Not You
by HollyX717
Summary: When a four year old Merlin meets five year old Arthur at the playground, they instantly begin to dislike each other. They swear to themselves they will never like the other. But when Merlin saves Arthur from a collapsing bookshelf, an unlikely bond just might form. Kid!Merlin, Kid!Arthur. Modern AU
1. Chapter 1

Merlin was an extremely happy and talkative four year old. Anyone who had met him could tell you that. His mop of black hair would get pushed away from his stunningly blue eyes as he babbled on and on excitedly about whatever it was on his mind. But the day Merlin met the young prince, Arthur, was very different.

Merlin was sitting alone at the swings, pumping his legs back and forth, in an attempt to swing himself up higher and higher. His mum, Hunith, had fallen ill, with the flu, and sent him to the park alone. Merlin was admittedly, not fond of being without his mother. He knew he was a small child, and his overly large ears made him an easy target for older children. Despite this, Merlin was in a decent mood. In fact, he was in such a decent mood he was practicing singing his mother's favorite lullaby as he swung, so he could perform it for her later. But as he sang and pumped his legs, a boy with blond hair, neatly combed back walked up to the swings.

"I want to swing," The boy stated, glaring openly at Merlin.

"Alright," Merlin responded cheerily. "There are plenty open! You can swing next to me if you like."

"No. I like that swing best. Get off." The blond crossed his arms, and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Merlin sighed, "well, I will be leaving in a moment. You can have it when I leave." He instantly knew expecting this boy to be reasonable was a mistake. The blond unfolded his arms and grabbed at Merlins foot, pulling it hard. Merlins head hit the swing first, and continued to fall, until his head hit the mulch with a painful thud.

The older boy knelt on Merlin's chest, and pushed his shoulders down shouting, "When I say get off, you get off!" Frightened, Merlin nodded quickly. The boy, slowly stepped off, with his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Good. Now scram."

Tears of frustration rolled down Merlin's cheeks and he screamed at the boy, "who do you think you are?! A king?"

"No," The boy smirked, straightening his red jacket proudly, "I'm the kings son. Prince Arthur."

Merlin's eyes widened in shock and he bolted away from the park, and didn't stop running until he was leaning against to door to his small apartment three streets away.

* * *

"Merlin sweetheart, is that you?" Hunith, called from her bedroom.

"Yes mummy…" Merlin's voice was hoarse, from trying to hold back the tears. Hunith, of course, immediately knew something was wrong.

"You're certainly back early!" She exclaimed, "Would you like to talk about it, darling? Come here." Still upset, Merlin couldn't refuse and burst through the door to his Mother's bedroom.

"I met a prince mummy." Merlin said, trying to make sure Hunith wasn't worrying. But even as he said this, his eyes began to tear up once again.

"Was he nice, darling?" Merlin shook his head, climbing onto the foot of the bed. "Well, why not?"

"He wanted to swing, but I was swinging, and he wanted my swing even though there were lots open, but I was going really high! So, I told him I'd get off soon, and he could have it, then he pushed me off the swing and sat on me and yelled, and said he was a prince and told me to leave." Merlin ended his speech, gasping for air.

"I'm so sorry, my sweetheart. I know what will make you feel happier! Do you know what day it is today, Merls?" Hunith pulled Merlin into her lap as she spoke, as if she were about to tell a great secret. "It is August 21st today, Merlin. Do you know what that means?"

Merlin gasped, "My birthday is in three days!" After a pause he added, "Can I choose a restaurant like last year?"

"Of course, it's your birthday after all!" Hunith smiled at her son.

"May we go to that place with the yummy noodles and the guys who set the table on fire?" Merlin questioned with the innocence of a child.

"Hibachi? Sure we can, if you'd really like it." Hunith nodded, "Would you really like that?"

"Yes mommy yes!" Merlin bounced up and down happily now, all arguments with the young prince almost completely forgotten.

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**Tell me what you guys think of my first ever fanfiction! This will be continued, though when I am not sure. ****Sadly I own none of these characters and all rights belong to BBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

Three days had passed since Merlin's fight with Arthur at the playground, and finally his birthday had come.

That morning, Hunith had filled Merlin's bedroom with balloons while he slept, each with a small prize at the bottom; a piece of candy, a new toy car and so on. Merlins favorite of course, was the small plastic dragon. The boy had an obsession with dragons, and he carried his new prized toy in his pocket for the rest of the day.

Together they had gone out for a picnic lunch, at Avalon park, and raced boats made from sticks and grass across the lake. Merlin won the race, when a fish jumped up and onto Hunith's boat and sunk it. Merlin hadn't stopped giggling for a good ten minutes.

Finally it was time for the best part of the night, the restaurant dinner. Merin was extremely excited for this, since they rarely got to go out for supper.

Together mother and son, walked through the parking lot, smiling and talking. Hunith realized suddenly that her baby boy was five now. Honest, truly, five years old. And he still had not one friend to invite over. She pushed the negative thoughts aside, determined to enjoy the night out.

Merlin, who had been fiddling with the plastic dragon, looked up to see another child staring at him from the restaurant window. He stopped walking, as he realized it was Arthur, the boy from the playground.

"Mummy," Merlin grabbed at Hunith's sleeve, "I've changed my mind. I don't wanna come here. Can we go home, mummy? Please?"

"Merlin? What's wrong sweetheart?" Hunith asked, knowing fully well that Merlin had been excited about this for the entire day. When she looked down at him, she noticed him staring into the window, at another boy, who looked around his age, but a bit taller and larger. "Merls, is that the boy who was mean to you the other day?" Merlins head bobbed slightly and his hands balled into tight fists around his mothers sleeve.

"Well then. I know you still want to eat here, right? How about we request a table away from him?" Merlins head bobbed again, and Hunith smiled walking him the rest of the way inside.

Finally, they were settled three tables away from where Arthur was sitting, with their backs to him. And Arthur, who had watched the happy pair walk in, sat glaring at the back of Merlin's head.

"Woah!" Merlin shrieked, as the chef set almost the entire table on fire.

Hunith laughed with her son, pretending to hide behind her hands. "Oh no! It's going to get me! The fire is coming closer! Merlin, blow out the fire!"

Merlin puckered his lips and attempted to blow out the fire, like a candle. As the fire died down, he tapped his mothers shoulder "Mummy, it's out now!"

Hunith dramatically uncovered her face, "Oh thank you my boy! However can I repay you?"

Merlin thought carefully, "Oh! Play dragons with me!" He pulled out the little plastic dragon he had gotten earlier that morning, and flew it towards his mother.

Hunith called out a series of tricks for the dragon to do, and Merlin followed them closely. As he sat twisting the dragon in his tiny hands, Arthur sat jealously wishing he had that toy dragon to play with.

As soon as the mother and son's food was prepared, Merlin placed the dragon next to his plate. And Arthur took this as his opportunity to get the dragon.

Placing the money next to his plate, he stood up, as if to leave. He pulled on his jacket and walked slowly towards the table where Merlin was sitting. Both mother and son were so busy speaking with each other, that neither noticed him as he grabbed the toy and shoved it into his own vest.

Twenty minutes later, it was time for Merlin and Hunith to leave. As Merlin glanced over to where he had placed his dragon he noticed it was missing. With a short cry, he dropped to the floor in search of his new favorite toy.

"Merlin, what's wrong?" Hunith asked now worried.

"It's gone! It's gone! My dragon is gone mum!" Merlins eyes filled with tears as he stood back up, looking at his mother.

"Did you put it in your pocket Merl?" She asked, hoping to find it. Merlin, after shoving his hands in his pockets, shook his head, and crumpled to the floor sobbing.

"Merlin, my darling, let's go home now. Okay? We will buy you another one tomorrow! In fact, we can buy two, so you can play dragons when I am not home."

A still crying Merlin climbed into his mother arms, and despite agreeing to the new plan, was inconsolable the entire walk home.

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**I hope everyone enjoys the second chapter! Again, all rights go to BBC. If anyone is wondering, I will be posting as many chapters as I can, in the next few days. I am scheduled for surgery and may not be able to upload anything for a week or two.**


	3. Chapter 3

It was exactly one week after Merlins birthday, when he got to go to school for the first time. It was an orientation day, so the kindergarteners could meet each other and the teacher, with their parents. Just so they wouldn't be scared. And no big kids were going to be there, either!

"Merlin, sweetheart!" Hunith whispered, shaking her son's shoulders attempting to wake him. As he opened his eyes, tiredly, she reminded him "orientation is today! Get up and dressed, and we will head to the school, alright?" Merlin groaned and rolled from his side to his stomach and continued to roll until he fell off the bed, blanket and all.

Hunith couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her now five year old son, wrapped in a Harry Potter blanket, collapsed on the floor.

She stood him up, and pulled off the shirt he had worn to bed. She noted that Merlin looked quite nice in red, and grabbed the red button up shirt, from his closet. She pulled it over his arms as his head lulled to one side. Hunith looked over Merlin, in his best red shirt, and pajama bottoms with dragons on then and laughed loudly. Merlin's head jerked up at the sound, and he was startled to find himself half dressed.

"Would you like to finish this yourself?" Hunith asked, handing him a clean pair of trousers. Merlin bobbed his head up and down and snatched the pants from her hands. "I'll make you pancakes then, my young man." With that Hunith left the room, and the sound of the stove being turned on could be heard through the door.

Merlin smiled, excited for orientation now that he was more awake. He hoped to meet some other children his age who'd be nice to him.

As he finished pulling on his last sneaker, he burst into the kitchen where his mum waited for him.

"Mummy! Hi mummy! How are _you_ this morning?" Merlin cried out, carrying the u just a little longer than usual. "Thanks for the pancakes mum! Do they have chocolate? I smell chocolate! Ooh! Mum? May I have sauce to go with the pancakes?"

Hunith laughed at her son for the umpteenth time that short morning, "yes, they have chocolate, and yes you may have some sauce, since it's such a special day. And you are such and amazing little boy!"

"Mummy, I'm not a little boy anymore! I'm five! See!" Merlin held up five fingers as if that would prove that he was no longer little.

"You'll always be little to me!" Hunith joked, handing Merlin the plate of pancakes. They were gone within the minute. "Somebody was hungry!"

"See! Big." Merlin handed back the plate, "only big kids can eat that fast."

"You must be really big then, Merls." Merlin grinned up at his mother, glad to hear his mother say he was a big kid now. "Go brush your teeth, and then we can walk to school, okay?"

"Alright mum." Merlin bounded out of the room as fast as he could move.

After the short ten minute walk, Merlin suddenly felt nervous. He began fiddling with the hem of his shirt, and his palms became clammy.

"Mum. The school is really big." Merlin looked up, tilting his from side to side, attempting to see the whole building.

"I will be right here today, alright Merlin? If you get nervous come find me, but try to play with other kids." Merlin nodded at his mother's words, taking a few deep breaths.

Finally the pair walked through the doors into the classroom where they found Merlins new teacher, Miss Davie. She seemed nice enough to Merlin. She had reddish hair, which Merlin really liked.

As Hunith began to push Merlin closer to a group of children, urging him to ask if he could play, the door swung dramatically open. Standing there, with his natural smug look, and his signature red jacket, was Arthur.

The two boys locked eyes and in unison immediately both groaned, "Not you!"

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**Tell me what you think! As always, all right sadly belong to BBC. Someday I will own Merlin! Again, I will be posting as often as possible pre-surgery as I may be unable to update for a week or more afterwards.**


	4. Chapter 4

After Arthur walked through the door, Merlin tried to just ignore him. He introduced himself to the boy who was sitting in the corner playing with a puzzle.

"Hello! My names Merlin, what's yours?" He greeted the boy politely.

"My names Will. Can you help me with this puzzle? There should be a piece to fit here, but I can't find it." The boy, Will, pointed to a hole in the half completed puzzle.

"Sure," Merlin sat down and began sifting through puzzle pieces. "Are you excited for school?"

Will nodded, "Yeah! My mum and dad are looking around the playground. Did both your parents come to?"

"I only have a mum, I don't know where my father is, but mummy says he was a good man, and left to help us, not hurt us, so it's okay." Merlin placed another piece into the puzzle.

"Oh, sorry" Will muttered, thinking he'd embarrassed the only boy who had spoken to him since his arrival.

To Wills surprise, Merlin chuckled, "it's okay, Will. Everyone asks."

Will grinned at Merlin, and then at the now completed puzzle, "we make a good team Merlin!"

"I see you've made a friend!" Hunith said, as she walked over to her son and the dark haired boy he was talking to.

"Mummy! This is my mum, Will. Mum, this is my friend Will. We finished the puzzle! See?" Hunith chuckled at her son's delight in something so simple.

"Hello, Will. It's quite nice to meet you." Hunith offered her hand for Will to shake.

As he grabbed it he said "hello! I'm sorry, mummy says it's impolite to call somebody someone's mum, but I don't know what I'm allowed to call you."

"You can call me Hunith, if you'd like" Merlin's mum laughed.

"Okay Miss Hunith! My mummy is over there! Her name is Elizabeth! And Daddy is Charles!" Will pointed at two adults observing the posters on the walls.

As Hunith left to introduce herself to Wills parents, the boys started on another puzzle, chatting about school and excitement. Across the classroom, the last student to arrive finally walked in.

"Leon!" Arthur greeted the curly haired boy, "You're late. You were meant to be here five whole minutes ago."

"Of course. I'm sorry. I'll be on time tomorrow, we hit a nail in the road and had to replace the tire" Leon hung his head, embarrassed about being yelled at by Arthur already.

"No excuses," Arthur snapped, storming over to a table, Leon following him closely.

"What a mean person." Will said, glancing at Arthur.

"That's prince Arthur. He's awful. He pushed me off a swing, when I first met him. It really hurt. I still have a bump on my head I think!" Merlin whispered.

Over at the table Arthur pulled a plastic toy from his pocket. "Look, Leon. Isn't it neat? It's a dragon. I nicked it from the kid at the park I told you about. He's over there." Arthur gestured towards Merlin, who, upon hearing the word dragon had frozen up.

Merlin turned slowly and saw the dragon in Arthur's hands. _His_ dragon.

"Hey! That's mine! You stole it! Give it back!" Merlin shouted lunging at Arthur.

His attempt to get his toy back, was met with a plastic dragon jammed painfully into his eye. He stumbled backwards into the arms of his mother.

"Mummy!" Merlin cried out, "he stole it! He stole _my_ dragon! Make him give it back."

"Merlin, I'm sure Arthur may just have had his own. Just because it's the same toy, doesn't mean he stole it." As Hunith reprimanded her son, Will walked over to his own parents.

"Dad," he whispered, "Arthur really did steal it. I heard him say it. That's my friends toy. He told me he lost it."

Will's father nodded, and went over to tell Miss Davie what his son told him.

Meanwhile, Arthur was screaming, "I don't like you! And who cares if this dragon had been yours anyway?! It's mine! You're just a freak! It's mine and I'm keeping it! If you try to take it again I'll hurt you! I bet I could knock you out with one hit!"

"You're just a- a- a clotpole!" Merlin stammered out tears threatening to burst from his eyes. Truthfully, he had no idea what that word could possibly mean, but it fit the obnoxious brat.

"Arthur," Miss Davie said sweetly, putting her hand on both boys shoulders, "Was the toy Merlin's?"

"No! It's mine!" Arthur stated.

"Well, another boy has told me he overheard you say you took it from another boy. Someone from the playground?"

Arthur's ears began to turn a light shade of pink as he stuttered out "Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. It's still mine now."

Merlin screamed then, "No it is not! Give it back to me! You stole it at the restaurant! You were there! I saw you!"

Now Arthur became very red, and was unable to give a proper answer. Tears welled up in the boys eyes, in anger at not being able to say it was his without being told he was lying. Of course, he knew he was, but that was beside the point.

"Give the toy to Merlin, please." Miss Davie demanded, pulling Merlin slightly closer. Grudgingly Arthur threw the toy at his head, where it bounced onto the floor and a grinning Merlin picked it up. "Okay! Thank you! I want all the children to circle up please! Over there, by the window.

As was just their luck, when the two were allowed to go sit with others the only two spots open were right next to each other. Both boys grumpily sat down, backs to the other.

While the other students went around the circle telling everyone else their names and something about them, Arthur kept muttering threats in Merlin's ear, and saying he would get the dragon back.

Finally as Arthur's own father, the king, walked in the door Merlin couldn't help it and he tackled Arthur.

Of course, at the same instance, the hanging shelf full of books decided to collapse. To anyone looking, it seemed as though Merlin was pushing the older boy out of the way of the falling shelf. King Uther seemed to think this as well.

"Boy, you just saved my son's life! What is your name?" He demanded, pulling a slightly stunned Merlin to his feet.

"M-merlin" The boy stuttered.

"Well, Merlin, you deserve some sort of payment for your actions. No, don't be so modest," He said as Merlin shook his head. "You can be Arthur's personal study partner!" He exclaimed, like that was the best form of repayment he could give.

"Father! Not him!" Arthur gasped. Merlin just stared, slightly unhappily. How could he deny the slightly frightening king?

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**As per usual, tell me what you think, and please leave a review. Do you like the chapters this length? Or should they be longer? Again, I own nothing and all rights go to BBC.**


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin was extremely talented at masking his anger, but Hunith was even better at detecting it. Come noon she thought it best for them to leave for the day. She thought that he may calm down about his new position if given some time away from the prince.

After saying their goodbyes to Miss Davie, William and his parents and, of course, the king, the two left the school.

"Are you glad to have your toy back, Merlin?" She asked him, in an attempt to bring up his mood.

"You didn't believe me..." Merlin said sadly, feeling betrayed by his own mother whom he loved so much.

Guilt showed across Hunith's face, as she lifted Merlin into her arms so he had to look at her. "Merlin, I am so sorry I didn't believe you. I know you would never lie to me. Truthfully, my dear, I hoped the prince would be nicer than he seemed. I thought if I said it could be his, he would feel upset and hand it back, if it was yours. Are you mad at me?"

Merlin shook his head, "does being Arthur's study partner mean I have to be nice to him?"

Hunith chuckled, "Merlin, you would have to be nice to him anyways. But yes, it does. And I want to say, that was very brave of you pushing him out of the way like that. And I was thinking, perhaps we should get you a better prize? A new goldfish, or hamster perhaps?"

Merlin's face lit up, and he nodded his head vigorously, "Oh, mummy!" He cried, "oh yes please! I'd like to have a pet! And I'll take very good care of it! I promise!"

"I know you will," Hunith chuckled, leading Merlin farther down the street.

Finally they came across the pet shop, and by this point Merlin was bouncing with excitement. In fact, he was so excited that he dropped his mothers hand and sprinted in through the doors.

"Merlin!" Hunith called after him, "wait for me!" With a laugh she rushed after him. When she met him just inside the door, she picked him up from behind and placed the small child on her shoulders.

Merlin laughed gleefully. And then gasped. He began to squirm and the moment Hunith let him off her shoulder he ran across the store.

Hunith followed after her son, hoping the child wouldn't trip and hurt himself. Or an animal. When she found him again, he was staring intently into a large tank. She couldn't quite make out what was inside, but could tell the boy was interested.

Slowly, Merlin turned around and stage whispered "mummy! It's a dragon!" Sure enough, inside the tank was a decently sized Komodo dragon. "Can I have this one, mum? Please? I'll take good care of it," he promised for the second time that day.

Hunith couldn't deny her son his wish, especially after the day he had. And she knew she could trust the boy to be responsible as Merlin, though childish and innocent, had an air of maturity about him, and cared for things in a way most children could not.

Hunith quickly called over an employee, and after many minutes of discussing the care of a Komodo dragon, purchased all the the required materials, and had the dragon placed in a carrier tank, to be brought home in.

"You know," the counter man, as Merlin had mentally decided to call him, said "this dragon is almost a year old, and you are the first person to ever want him. So, now he is yours! And you get to name him!"

Merlin bounced excitedly where he stood. He called out many thanks to the man, and bounded out after his mother.

The whole trip home, Merlin walked backwards so he could see both his mum and new pet.

"My dear, you'll have to name your new dragon eventually! What are you thinking?" Hunith asked her son, as she glanced again, at his new pet.

"I want to name him Killgarah." Merlin smiled.

"Killgarah?" Hunith questioned, "Where in heavens did that come from?"

"Dunno. Sounds right. Killgarah the dragon!" He ended with a shout.

"Killgarah the dragon!" Hunith repeated, amused once again by her son's innocence.

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**Please leave a review if you liked this chapter! Or tell me what you didn't like, and I will fix it in future chapters! As sad as usual, I do not own Merlin, and all rights belong to BBC.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Hello in there, Kilgharrah!" Merlin cooed at his new pet. The day before, upon arriving home, Merlin and his mother spent half an hour setting up Killgarahs habitat. Hunith told Merlin to let Killgarah get used to it, before taking him out too much. So, Merlin let Killgarah sit, and talked to him as he changed into his clothes for the day.

Todays outfit had Merlin in brown shorts, a dinosaur t-shirt and his favorite pair of worn out black sneakers.

Finally Merlin exited his room, to find his mother placing his breakfast, scrambled eggs and bacon, on the table for him.

"I see somebody is in his dinosaur shirt today!" Hunit greeted her son.

"Morning, mummy! Yeah. Dinosaurs are pretty cool. I think dragons would be their cousins which makes them cool. But they still will never be as cool as real dragons!" He yelped, "I think Kilgharrah is happy, mum, he keeps looking at me, and I think he smiled. Can dragons smile, mum? I don't really know, but I think Kilgharrah smiled at me! Oh. Thanks for the eggs, mummy!"

Merlin continued to ramble on, through the toothpaste while he brushed his teeth, while his mother combed back his hair and even while they walked to the school, Merlin had not stopped talking. Not even once.

"Mummy, you're quiet today." Merlin noticed as they walked down the hallway to his classroom.

"I'm just going to miss you, Merls. This is the first full day in ages I won't be with you," Hunith frowned, "But! I will see you at three, and we can go get ice cream together!"

Merlin suddenly stopped walking at this realization. He looked around the hallway, as if surprised to find himself there.

"Mum… My tummy hurts. Can we come to school tomorrow instead? Can we just wait?" Merlin whispered, wrapping his skinny arms around Hunith's waist.

"Sweetheart, I know you're nervous but, if you make it through the day, we will get ice cream. Plus, Will is going to be here, so you can play with him again," Hunith whispered, in an attempt to console the boy.

Upon hearing Will's name, Merlin brightened up, "Can Will come out for ice cream with us? If his mum says yes?"

"If his mum says yes," agreed Hunith. "Goodbye Merlin. I will see you in the afternoon." With one last hug, she left her only son in the doorway to his new classroom.

* * *

Shakily, Merlin opened the door, half expecting Arthur to be standing there, prepared to yell at him. But, instead, standing there was Will, who hugged him as if they hadn't seen each other in years.

"Merlin!" Will screamed, jumping up, "I missed you!"

"Will! It hasn't even been a whole day!" Laughed Merlin.

The two boys then decided to see how many puzzles they could finish before Miss Davie gathered the class together. First they completed one that had an image of two dogs sitting under a tree, one that had an image of a television show character and finally, they had to get up to find a third one.

"Miss Davie?" Merlin tapped the teachers leg, "Will and I have completed both of the puzzles in the corner! Are there any more, we can do?"

"Actually, Merlin, class is just about to begin, so that can wait until play time, alright?" Miss Davie murmured quietly, as she took another sip of coffee.

Merlin nodded at her with a grin and ran back to tell Will class was to begin soon.

As he did so: "I will not go in there! He will not be my study partner! Kick him out of my class!" could be heard from the hallway.

"Oh yay, prince prat is here!" Will whispered to Merlin sarcastically. Merlin began to giggle, and Arthur was pushed unceremoniously into the classroom, the door slamming shut behind him.

"What are you laughing at, cabbage head?" Arthur demanded, kicking the two finished puzzles so the pieces were scattered once again.

"Cabbage head?" Merlin asked incredulously.

Arthur shrugged and pushed the smaller boy over, before making his way over to Leon.

"Whys he gotta be so mean to you?" Will asked, offering Merlin his hand. Merlin took Will's hand and mimicked Arthur's shrug.

"Class!" Miss Davie called, now that all of the students were there, "circle up, where we were yesterday, and we will reintroduce ourselves, since we didn't get the chance to finish yesterday." Her voice trailed off for a second before she looked pointedly towards Arthur and Merlin "I also have a feeling not everyone was listening."

Both Arthur's and Merlin's ears went very pink before they rushed to settle down with the rest of the class, as far from the other as possible.

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**Please leave a review, if you love me! And thanks to all those who already have :)**

**Again, all rights belong to BBC (for now!)**


	7. AN

**Hey guys, I have my surgery today so there will be no chapters for a while. So, leave a review on previous chapters, so I know what my readers like and don't like. Again, thanks everyone who has already left a review! You guys make me really happy :)**


	8. Chapter 7

For a kindergarten class, there were quite a few people. Thirteen children, in fact!

They went around the circle introducing themselves, once again.

Arthur, of course, went first. "My names Arthur. My daddy is the king, which makes me a prince which means I am better than you." Merlin and Will looked at each other, rolling their eyes simultaneously.

The dark haired girl sitting next to him said "My name is Morgana. I am Arthur's half sister, which technically makes me a princess. Arthur's a meanie, but you can ignore him. He won't actually hurt anyone."

"Wanna bet?" Merlin muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Merlin?" Miss Davie asked pointedly, "Would you like to go next?"

Merlin suddenly felt extremely nervous, "Umm." He started, "My name is Merlin. And..." He trailed off not knowing what to say, before shouting suddenly, "Oh! I got a pet dragon yesterday!"

"Did you now, Merlin? What's its name?" Miss Davie asked him sweetly.

"Killgarah!" Merlin yelled proudly.

"Weirdo." Arthur spat, glaring at the ground. Murmurs could be heard around the room, almost all the children wanted to see the dragon.

"Children! Let's settle down now," Miss Davie called, "Who's next?"

When nobody raised their hands, Miss Davie chose a small girl who was sitting across from Merlin.

"My name is Gwen," The girl stammered "And I- Umm. I know how to knit and use a real proper sewing machine. I made this shirt all by myself!" The shirt seemed simple enough, just a singular shade of purple. But, the fact it was in near perfect condition and was made by a five year old was utterly shocking. Miss Davie was in fact so surprised that, after complimenting Gwen, could hardly manage to point at Will to let him know it was the boys turn to speak.

"I'm Will and I am super duper good at climbing! Once, I climbed to the top of the fridge and mum couldn't find me for a really long time! But then she said she would give me icecream if I came out, so I did." Will somehow had managed to say this all in one breath, the way only small children can.

"Well, I am going to have to implore that you don't hide away from us in class, Will!" Miss Davie laughed.

"I am Leon." The curly haired friend of Arthur's whispered politely, "And, I know how to ride horses really well."

"Do you have your own horse Leon?" Miss Davie asked.

"Not yet. But, my father has said that if I do well in school, he may get me one." Leon stated. It took Miss Davie almost another five minutes to get the class to stop begging to see the horse when he got it.

Following after Leon was a set of twins. The two sat extremely close together, and looked as if they were willing to defend each other were the other to be picked on. Though both were very small, neither was as small as Merlin.

The boy who had spiky blond hair introduced himself first. "My name is Damien, and my daddy taught me how to water ski when I turned three. I broke my arm water skiing once! It really hurt, and now my arm bends funny! See?" Damien showed the class how is arm bent slightly backwards at the elbow. A few of the boys laughed at that, while the girls seemed like they might be ill.

His sister, who had hair of the same color that went down to her waist whispered quietly, "My name is Desellra and-"

Before Desellra had the chance to say anything interesting about herself a boy, who was slightly larger than Arthur, scoffed "What kind of name is that?"

"What?" The girl whispered, her eyes filling very quickly with tears.

"Thats a really stupid name! Why couldn't your parents give you a normal person name?" The boy laughed loudly.

Desellra clutched tightly to her brothers crooked arm, trying to hold back tears.

"Oy! Shut your mouth, would you!?" Damien shouted at the boy, pulling his sister defensively behind him.

"Boys!" Miss Davie screamed, startling all of the children into silence, "I am sick of this fighting. I don't know what is with this class, but if I hear another nasty word every single one of your parents will be notified of this behavior."

All of the children glanced around at each other, unsure of how to react, but all slightly scared.

"Now, we will continue introducing ourselves kindly, Desellra, your name is lovely. Please continue with what it was you were saving." The teacher said, calming herself down.

Awkwardly Desellra stated, "I've swum with dolphins before…"

"Thank you. Ethan?" Miss Davie motioned for the large child to go next.

"My name is Ethan and I finished an entire Rubiks cube once…" The boy uttered quietly.

The introductions continued in this slightly awkward fashion. The rest of the class was made up by a boy named Edmund, and three other little girls name Riesling, Mali, and Lillith.

Edmund was able to play the guitar. Both Riesling and Lilith could sail and Mali's mother just had her seventh child, make Mali the third youngest in the family, rather than the second.

None of the children had dared to talk amongst each other throughout the rest of the introductions, and shuffled about nervously when Mali finished up her introduction.

"Okay class," Miss Davie called out, "I want all of you to find where you are to sit, your names are written on cards which are on top of your desks. Find your card, and sit at the corresponding desk. Okay?"

"I hope we get to sit near each other, Merlin." Will whispered in his friends ear, as they headed to find their seats. They found Will's seat very quickly,as it was the same desk he had stood by when he waited for Merlin that morning. But Merlins desk was neither next to nor across from Will's.

They looked at each other disappointedly, before Merlin walked off to find his seat. Finally he found his chair at the other side of the room. He looked at the desk next to him, to see who he would be sitting with. The boy Damien, with the crooked arm, had his card on that desk.

That's not bad! Merlin thought, as he sat down. And as he sat, the child who would be sitting across from him sat down. Merlin looked up and his eyes locked with those of a very unhappy, Arthur.

* * *

**Sorry this is such a crappy chapter. I really wanted to get an update out, but am totally high on painkillers right now... Again, please leave a review! I love hearing from you guys and would really like to know what exactly about this story you like, or dislike. So tell me what you're thinking! All rights do of course belong to BBC, despite my attempts to steal ownership of Merlin!**

**Imma take a nap now!**


	9. Chapter 8

Merlin decided he did not like school. First Arthur ends up in the same class. Then he is made Arthur's official "study partner" and has to be nice to somebody so mean. Finally his seat is directly across from Arthur's and within fifteen seconds of sitting down Arthur had kicked his shins almost twelve times. And Merlin knew if he told, Arthur would still just keep kicking him.

"Quit kicking me, you clotpole!" Merlin whisper shouted over the table, when Miss Davie had her back turned.

"Make me, cabbage head!" Arthur retorted.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Merlin asked, still confused by this new nickname.

"Cause it's what you are! Why do you keep calling me a clotpole?" Arthur snapped.

"Because you keep being mean to me!" Merlin responded harshly.

"Do not…" Arthur muttered.

"You do too!" Merlin protested, whining in the way only a five year old can whine.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders, turning his head away from the smaller boy.

Miss Davie began to speak then "Can anybody tell me why you all have to come to school?"

A few kids began to shout out answers, before Miss Davie cut them off, telling them to raise their hands.

The girl who had made her shirt, Gwen, was called on. "My mum says," she began, "that I have to go to school because I will learn more at school. She also says school is where people make friends and have fun, even though sometimes learning can be boring. I don't think learning will be boring though! It could be really very fun I think."

Miss Davie grinned "Exactly right, Gwen! We come to school to learn new things and make friends. And yes, learning is very very fun. Sometimes you might not enjoy it, but when you finally understand what you're learning, you will love it again."

Miss Davie was bubbly, Merlin noticed. She talked a lot, just like Merlin did, but she talked differently. More like she had to than like she wanted to, but it wasn't mean either. More… in charge.

Arthur, on the other hand was not bubbly. He was obnoxious. And he still hadn't stopped kicking Merlin. Making Merlin angry wasn't an easy feat and this boy had managed to do so many times in one week.

"Will you quit it?!" Merlin shouted pushing his chair away from the desk but the boy's natural clumsiness got in the way. Instead of the whole chair moving back, as had been expected, the two back legs of the chair stuck to the ground.

The back of the chair tilted backwards, and Merlin gasped just before the whole thing toppled back. The class erupted in laughter at the sight of the boy sprawled out half under the desk, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Merlin! Are you alright?" Will cried, jumping out of his own chair and rushing over to his friend.

Merlin forced a giggle, taking Will's offered hand. "I'm okay. I do that a lot." Will smiled back at his friend, pretending not to notice that Merlin rubbed his hand across the back of his head.

"Merlin?" Miss Davie said as she walked over towards the boys, "What on earth just happened?"

Merlin looked up sheepishly, but before he could respond Arthur spat, "The idiot can't even sit in a chair right! Is there anything you _can _do properly Merlin?"

"I can be nice…" Merlin muttered under his breath.

"Okay!" Miss Davie announced, rolling her eyes at the boys seemingly nonstop argument. "I want all of you to go outside and play with the first graders." The class began to cheer and run out of the room, "Except!" the class paused, "For Merlin and Arthur." The two boys groaned, sitting back down in unison.

Merlin knew for sure now. He _really _did not like school. And it was all Arthur's fault.

* * *

The boys received a short lecture on behaving properly and not fighting all the time. Both had nodded when called for, but Arthur seemed keen on rolling his eyes when Miss Davie wasn't looking, whereas Merlin looked like he might begin to cry. Finally they were told they could join the rest of the class for the last 5 minutes.

Arthur stamped out of the room, not looking back, while Merlin hung back for a second, staring at Miss Davie, sad that he got into trouble.

When Merlin stepped outside, somebody grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to the ground, fairly gently

"What happened?" Will asked.

"She told us to stop fighting, and didn't care that it's all Arthur's fault." Merlin crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Dumb Arthur... We must get revenge!" Will declared, hoisting his friend back onto his feet. Little did the two know that on the opposite side of the playground Leon and Arthur were having a very similar conversation.

* * *

**Tell me what you thought of this chapter! Also, I'm considering adding Merlin's magic into the story, but I can very easily write it without it. So, tell me which storyline you prefer. Magic or no magic? Whichever gets more votes will be the one published. All rights belong to BBC, as I sadly have not been able to kidnap Merlin and the rest of the characters.**


	10. Chapter 9

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Merlin and Will completed two more puzzles, during their free time. Arthur knocked down the wooden block castle Morgana had built, while Leon kicked over a single block, looking extremely guilty. Gwen helped Morgana rebuild it, after stopping her from tackling her brother. Nearing the end of the day Miss Davie began to really teach, not just games anymore.

"Does anybody know how to read?" She asked. Every single one of the childrens hands shot up. "Does anybody know how to read anything but their own names?" Every single hand went back down. Except Merlins.

"I can read the whole alphabet! Mummy taught me at the lake once. She drew all the letters in the sand lots of different ways and I had to read them lots of times." The small boy stated proudly.

"That is very good Merlin! Can you tell me what this letter is?" Miss Davie turned to the chalkboard behind her, and began to draw a peculiar shape.

"That's two letters!" Merlin laughed, "And it's W and N."

"Exactly right!" Miss Davie smiled at the boy.

"I knew that too!" Arthur screamed, not wanting the other child to be getting praise when he was not.

"Did you?" Miss Davie asked, feigning belief. "What letters are these then?" She proceeded to write two more letters on the board.

Arthur hesitated, having not expected to actually be challenged. He thought he could get away with saying he was a prince, and didn't need to answer questions, but according to the lecture he had received earlier, he knew that wouldn't work. His mind began to race through the alphabet, as he remembered every letter he knew.

"K and L." Arthur decided, though he wasn't remotely sure.

Miss Davie smiled nicely, "Very close Arthur. But this is actually J and E. Very good try though!"

Merlin hid his mouth behind hand, stifling a giggle. Angrily Arthur drew back his foot and with all his might kicked the other boy's shin, yet again.

"Ow!" Merlin screamed. "Quit kicking me!" Truthfully, Merlin would have hit Arthur, if he wasn't holding on to his leg in pain.

"Arthur and Gwen. Switch seats immediately." Miss Davie snapped, "Arthur, you and I will have to have a discussion with your father when he comes to pick you up."

Gwen, without protesting once, picked up the small stuffed toy she had on her desk and began to shyly walk over to Arthurs desk. Arthur, on the other hand, walked to the opposite side of the room quite grumpily. In fact, he decided to trip the poor girl as they crossed paths. Gwen stumbled, dropping the toy and as she landed on her stomach her eyes began to fill with tears.

Merlin indignantly pushed back his chair, rushed over to the girl and helped her back to her feet, placing the stuffed toy on her new desk.

"Thanks…" The girl sniffled, sitting down in the seat. Merlin glared at the older boy, as he sat down in his own seat.

Miss Davie let out a frustrated sigh, "Thank you Merlin, for helping Gwen. Arthur. Why did you feel the need to trip your classmate?"

Arthur smirked and shrugged obnoxiously, "I didn't trip her. Maybe she's just as clumsy as the cabbage head!" Nobody laughed now. The look on Miss Davie's face made them all feel nervous. Arthur, however, seemed utterly oblivious to the stern glare that was directed at him.

Miss Davie grabbed his arm and marched the boy to the principals office. Upon returning ten minutes later, Arthur sat down quietly in his new chair and said nothing for the last five minutes of class.

While the two were gone, Gwen leaned across the table and whispered to Merlin, "You were very brave. Standing up to Arthur, I mean. He's a bully."

Merlin's ears turned a bit pink and he said "He's a clotpole!" Gwen smiled back at this odd boy, amused at how proud he was of his word.

* * *

"Mummy!" Merlin cried, flying across the schoolyard into Hunith's arms. "Please don't ever make me go to school again! It was horrible! Can't you teach me? Like you did with the letters! And Will should come too, cause he's my friend. And Gwen. I think I will like Gwen, she can come!"

Detaching the child from her waist, Hunith looked down at Merlin, "What was so horrible about the day sweetheart? You had no fun at all?"

"Well," Merlin thought for a second, "There were lots of fun parts. Will and I did four whole puzzles! And we talked about letters and I was the only one who knew them all. But Arthur is so mean! He kept calling me names and kicking me and he got me in trouble."

"He got you in trouble did he?" Hunith asked.

Before Merlin could answer, a voice called, "Excuse me! Merlin! Miss!" It was Miss Davie, she rushed over to the two, waving at them.

Merlin grimaced, thinking he was going to get into trouble again.

Miss Davie smiled at Hunith, "I have to admit, I was very surprised by your sons ability to read letters. I have never had a student be able to tell me random letters before him, unless they were in the childs name." The teacher smiled at Merlin to prove she was happy. She then leaned closer to Hunith and whispered, "But he is having some slight problems with a classmate of his, and I think we should consider setting up a time frame to discuss this with the other boys parents. Especially considering the father has demanded I have them sit together, and wishes to have Merlin spend an hour after school, twice a week with his son to study together."

"I take it you mean the prince. Arthur." Hunith frowned slightly, as Miss Davie nodded. "Yes, Merlin was just telling me about how the boy was being cruel to him." She looked at her son, "Merlin, go find Will and ask his mother about ice cream, okay?" Merlin looked curiously at his mother before nodding and running off to find his friend.

Hunith sighed, "I am sure, of course, Arthur is not the only child at fault here, and will discuss the situation with Merlin at home. I think it would be extremely helpful to have a meeting with Arthur's father, considering the role he has deemed Merlin should take. If you are to speak with Uther, just set a date and I will come."

"Thank you, Hunith. You seem like the kind of parent who has everything under control. And Merlin speaks quite highly of you." Miss Davie smiled reassuringly at the exasperated mother before her.

"And I think, Will's mother has said yes to ice cream!" Miss Davie laughed, gesturing towards the two small boys racing each other towards Hunith. They wore matching grins and both were panting by the time they reached the adults.

Gasping out the words Merlin breathed, "Miss Lizzy says we can get ice cream!"

* * *

The ice cream store was a small, outdoor place. People stood at one window to order, then another to receive their ice cream. Though the shop itself was small, the land around it was quite impressive. Dozens of acres with lush green grass surrounded the area. And wandering around in the grass were hundreds of cows, the milk from which, was used to make the ice cream. This, besides the park, was Merlin's favorite place to be.

Merlin ordered a double scoop of caramel and chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone, and Will asked for a double scoop of pistachio in a waffle cone. Both mothers ordered a simple scoop of vanilla in cups.

Upon receiving the ice-cream's, the boys ran towards the fence, so they could watch the cows grazing. Hunith and Williams mother, Elizabeth, laughed, and sat on a bench talking about what Merlin called "boring mum stuff".

"Cows smell really bad!" Will gagged through a bite of ice cream.

"Yeah. Just like you!" Merlin teased his friend.

"Hey!" Will exclaimed, pulling a few blades of grass and throwing them at the smaller boy. Both boys looked at each other for a split second, before shoving the last of their ice creams into their mouths in a single bite. Merlin proceeded to be tackled by Will, and the two wrestled in an attempt to pin the other down. Laughing as hard as the two were made it quite difficult to even sit properly and they ended up collapsing in the grass, tears running down their faces.

"This proves nothing Merlin!" Will gasped, between giggle fits, "I bet I can climb that tree faster than you!" He pointed at a large apple tree, near the benches where their mothers were sitting.

Merlin turned his head to face his friend, "I bet you can't!" With that, Merlin clambered onto his knees and raced towards the tree, his friend on his heels.

* * *

"What on earth are you two doing?" Hunith laughed at the sight of the two grassy haired boys racing towards her.

"Can't talk mum!" Merlin screeched as the pair ran past their mothers. The boys began clambering up the tree, holding onto reachable branches.

True to his word, Will was extremely good at climbing, and had climbed almost the entire tree while Merlin was not yet half way up. And true to his proven clumsiness, Merlin stepped on a branch that decided to break as he did. The boy lost his footing and flew past the branches, hitting every limb on the way down.

"Merlin!" Will screamed, as he lowered himself back down the tree. Merlin blinked a few times, before the shock of just how far he fell set in and he burst into tears.

Hunith and Elizabeth rushed over to the boy, and his mother scooped him into her arms. Merlin's shoulders shook with the sobs that racked his body. It was easy to tell that he wasn't actually injured, just frightened.

"Merlin! Merlin, are you okay?" Will clutched his friends arm nervously, tears beginning to fill his own eyes.

"It's okay sweetheart. You're okay. It was just a little fall, you aren't hurt." Hunith whispered comfortingly in Merlin's ear.

It took almost five minutes of soothing words for Merlin to calm down enough to breath properly.

"M-m-my elbow." Merlin stammered, holding the elbow that was paining him to his chest.

"Level?" Hunith asked calmly, like she had asked this question numerous times before. With the boys natural clumsiness, she probably had.

Merlin paused before answering, "s'not bad anymore…" his voice was hoarse. "Three." He decided with curt finality.

"I think it might be time to go." Hunith chuckled softly, glancing back at Elizabeth. "Say goodbye to Will, okay, Merl?"

Merlin waved goodbye, and Will smiled goofily back, making both children giggle slightly.

As Hunith and Merlin walked away Hunith told her son, "We will discuss what happened at school with Arthur when we get home."

Merlin just sighed and laid his head on his mother shoulders. Within minutes he had fallen asleep. Hunith smiled gently, relishing her son's innocence.

* * *

**As mentioned in the last chapter, I am considering adding Merlin's magic into the story, but I might not. Magic or no magic? Whichever gets more votes will be the one published. All rights belong to BBC, as per usual. Please leave reviews, it will help me to write this story the way you like to read it. I will ****_not_**** post another chapter until I have at least 5 votes on the magic situation.**


	11. Chapter 10

The rest of the night had passed by fairly quickly. Merlin fed Killgarah and ate dinner with his mother, during which he was bombarded with questions about Arthur. Hunith had officially decided she would talk to Arthur's father about removing Merlin from his position. It simply didn't seem healthy to force the two to work together, if they could hardly bear to sit across from each other without fighting. She had put Merlin to sleep, and began to plan out exactly what she would say.

Another school day passed, in the same fashion as the first. The boys fought and left the school grumpily. But, different from the first, they had learned all their letters, and had begun learning how to spell a few words. It was Wednesday now, which meant they would be tested on three words the next Friday morning. That night Hunith had her meeting with Miss Davie and Uther.

* * *

"Hunith," Miss Davie called out, leaving the school building to follow Merlin for the second day in a row, "Mr. Pendragon has notified me that he would like the meeting to take place at around 8:00 tonight. Will that work for you?"

"Yes" Hunith smiled politely, "That would be quite alright, I will be here at exactly 8:00!"

"Thank you, miss." Miss Davie, turned and walked back towards the school, without much of a dismissal. She seemed quite stressed about this meeting, though considering it was with a king, Hunith understood.

"Mum? What meeting? Why are you having a meeting with Miss Davie and the clotpole's father?" Merlin asked innocently.

"Merlin!" Hunith admonished, "Calling names will not help to make Arthur be nice to you. You don't like that he calls you names, which means he probably doesn't like it when you call him names!"

Merlin stubbornly pouted, "Yeah, but he is a clotpole… I am not a cabbage head. See! My head isn't cabbage!"

"No." Hunith laughed, as Merlin knocked his hand against his head, "Your head is not cabbage. But neither is Arthur a clotpole. He may be a tad mean, but you must be nice to him."

Merlin crossed his arms and wouldn't meet his mother stern gaze. "Fine." He grumbled.

"Merlin, what do you think about having to be Arthur's study partner?" Hunith questioned, in an attempt to get the boy to stop glaring at the ground.

Merlin glanced up, "I don't want to. And nobody will tell me what I would have to do! So, I won't do it." Merlin began glaring at the ground again. All Hunith could do was let out a slightly exasperated sigh and continue leading her son home.

Throughout the short walk Merlin kept his arms crossed and stomped with every step. When they arrived back at their apartment he stormed into his bedroom, not quite slamming the door behind him.

"It's just not fair Killgarah!" Merlin whined to the lizard, as he sat down at the desk, staring into the tank. "Arthur is so mean to everybody, but I keep getting in trouble! And! I have to be his dumb study partner. I don't even know what that means!" Merlin flopped onto the bed, his head dangling off still staring at the unblinking dragon. He kicked the wall slightly, before sadly adding, "I bet you're real smart. You'd tell me what to do. I wish you could talk…"

He heard a noise then, slightly muffled, but it was definitely a voice.

"What, mum?" He called, slightly less grumpily than before.

"I didn't say anything sweetheart!" Hunith called back.

After closing the door again, he sat back down on the bed. He knew he had heard a voice. He had heard voices before, always muffled like that one was. But the problem was, he only ever heard them at night. And it had been over a year since he last heard them.

Merlin thought back to the first time he heard the voices.

_Merlin was almost asleep in bed, when he heard voices, they were muffled but were definitely calling his name. The two year old child got so frightened he ran into his mothers room and stayed all night. A week later he heard them again. This time Hunith, upset by her sons fright, brought him to a child psychologist. The doctor there said he was suffering from something similar to sleep paralysis, and his imagination was simply acting up. Merlin used the calming methods the doctor gave him every time he heard voices. One night, nearing his fourth birthday he had heard the voices clearly. "He is not ready!" The voice shouted over multiple muffled sounds. After that, all voices ceased._

* * *

Shaking his head to rid himself of the memory, Merlin ran out of his room.

"Mum?" Merlin poked Hunith, in an attempt to get her attention.

"Yes, Merls? I'm glad to see you're done being a grump!" She smiled, as she stirred something in a bowl, for that night's dinner.

"Mum. What happened to the book?" Merlin pulled at his shirt, not wanting to worry his mother, but getting upset himself.

"What book darling?" Hunith stopped stirring. She knew exactly which book her son wanted, but she just had to check.

"The book you wrote in a lot. When I told you what I could hear them say." Merlin's voice cracked, tears threatened to spill and the boy refused to look higher than his own shoes.

"Oh sweetheart... Come with me." Hunith led her son into her own small bedroom, and swiftly opened up the top drawer in the nightstand. She pulled out a small book, a notebook.

"Did they say anything?" She asked, as she pulled off the cap of a pen.

Merlin shook his head slowly, "I don't know… It was just one. I think it called my name but… It was quiet. It didn't sound mean, just. Like it was talking through water!" Merlins speech was broken as he searched for the correct words. Hunith, at the same time wrote down what he said.

"Okay sweetie. Do you remember what the doctor told you to do when you heard them?" Merlin nodded, and went back into his own bedroom, to calm himself down, despite not feeling as scared as he used to.

Hunith collapsed in a heap on her bed crying and whimpering to herself, "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do!" She couldn't even begin to consider what might be the cause of these voices that only her son could hear.

* * *

The small family ate a short dinner, in near silence. Merlin was too upset to talk much. Hunith assumed this was because of the voice, but truthfully, Merlin was upset because he made his mother cry.

By the time 7:00 rolled around, Merlin had perked up slightly. His mother and Will's had made plans for Merlin to spend the night, so that Hunith could go to the meeting, and not scramble for a babysitter at the last minute.

"Mum!" Merlin called bursting into the kitchen, where Hunith was cleaning up after their meal. "What do I bring?"

"Well Merls! You need pajamas, a toothbrush, clothes for tomorrow morning, your blanket and pillow and you can bring one toy. I'll meet you at the school tomorrow, with your books, and take home everything else, alright?" Hunith pulled the few supplies that were in her son's backpack out and handed it to him.

Merlin practically skipped out of the room, but later would insist he didn't. "I'm a boy! Boy's don't skip mum!" He would say.

The moment Merlin finished packing what his mother told him to (though he secretly added a second toy dragon, in case Will had none) he leapt into Hunith's arms.

"Ready?" She laughed, adjusting the child so she could see his face. Merlin nodded and flashed a goofy grin. Hunith was admittedly surprised at how fast he had calmed down, what with his troubles with Arthur and then the voices.

Together the two left the apartment. Merlin with the pillow under his arm and backpack sliding off his shoulder, and Hunith with Merlins hand in her own walked to Will's house.

Before they had even made it up the walkway, Will had slammed open the door and tackled Merlin in a hug.

"Will! Can't breathe!" Merlin gasped, trying to push the other boy off.

"Merlin! You get to sleep over! And mum said that we can stay up until 9:oo! I never get to stay up that late!" Will rambled excitedly, completely ignoring Merlin's gasping.

With a laugh Elizabeth came out of the house, and pulled her son off of the smaller boy.

"If it's alright with you, I told Will they could stay up a little late to play." She greeted Hunith, with a much gentler hug of her own. The two women had gotten to know each other quite well the day before, and it turned out they got along just as well as their children did.

"That sounds lovely!" Hunith hugged Elizabeth back, and whispered in her ear, so the boys wouldn't hear, "I do fear I have to discuss a slight issue with you first. Preferably in private."

"Of course." Elizabeth whispered back. "Will, go show Merlin your bedroom, let him put his things down, then you can play." The boys ran into the house without a problem. The mothers shared a smile, as they walked through the small garden in the front of the house.

"When Merlin was younger he would enter a state of sleep paralysis," Hunith began explaining, "He would hear voices occasionally, when he was partially awake. It hadn't happened for a long time, but has happened again recently. He does have many methods of calming himself down, but may still get frightened if it does happen again. I think that it is unlikely, but if it does happen and he can't manage to calm down, please feel free to call me, and I will come get him. I don't want you to feel like you have to figure that out for yourself."

"Thank you, Hunith, for telling me that. I understand completely, and will be sure to call if there is a problem." Elizabeth smiled warmly. "Is there anyway to know when it's happening?"

"Not particularly, no. Sometimes the voices don't scare him, and other times… Well, that would be when you call me! He will most likely begin to cry either way, to be honest. It frightens him, when he's sleeping." Hunith answered, seeming to study the flowers, but truthfully, not quite able to look the other woman in the eye.

Hunith was getting nervous, thinking about leaving her only son alone all night, and was beginning to tear up. She knew very well that he was in good hands, and continued to reassure herself of this.

Elizabeth seemed to be able to sense how her friend was feeling, "My mother always told me the first sleepover was the hardest. I was the youngest of four children, and she still admitted to crying when I first asked to spend the night with a friend."

Hunith smiled at her friend, gratefully, before saying her goodbyes. As she was walking down the sidewalk again Merlin, who having said goodbye twice already, sprinted down after her and hugged her legs.

She lifted him up for one final hug and he whispered, "Please make me not Arthur's study partner. I love you, mummy." He kissed her cheek, as she promised she would do her best. Finally she left, with both boys and Elizabeth waving at her with huge smiles.

"So, boys, you have one and a half hours! Anything in particular you'd like to do?"

With mischievous grins, the two boys glanced at each other, before Will grabbed Merlin's wrist and dragged him through the house.

* * *

At the school, Hunith spotted Miss Davie, waiting patiently on a bench.

The teacher stood up as she approached, "I am so glad you were able to make it tonight. I'm sure Mr. Pendragon will be here momentarily."

Before Hunith could answer, a sleek black limousine pulled up, and the king himself stepped out. Both women quickly understood where Arthur got his love of dramatic entrances from.

"Lovely to see both of you ladies!" He called, "So sorry I've run a tad late."

"Not at all," Miss Davie replied, "we were both early. Let's get this meeting started, shall we?" She turned and led the two parents to her classroom.

The three sat around her desk, and began to discuss the issue at hand.

"So, Hunith, what I have heard from Arthur, about your son, is that he is a 'cabbagehead'. I'm still unsure what to make of that, but the boy won't speak of him any further." Uther chuckled, amused.

"Yes, Merlin mentioned that. He was quite insistent on the fact that his head is not made of cabbage on our walk home today." Hunith laughed with him.

Miss Davie, chuckling as well, interjected, "Yes, they are both quite fond of name calling it seems. What I am mostly concerned about, is the fact that they cannot seem to be with five feet of each other without a problem coming up. For example, during their recess outside, Merlin ran past Arthur, to get to one of his friends. Arthur immediately began to chase the other boy, pushing him and making fun of him. Merlin did attempt to hit Arthur…"

Both parents knew that could not have turned out fell for Merlin. Hunith knew, while her son was small and fast, his judgment was poor. Uther knew that Arthur had shocking reflexes, and could hurt the smaller child without trying.

Thankfully Miss Davie told them she had gotten there before Arthur could hit back.

The rest of the meeting passed. Hunith discussed the study partner matter, but was ultimately shot down. Uther wanted to test it out, and see if having the boys have to work together, in a more separated environment, would change their relationship. Hunith's protests were weak, and she was overruled.

In the end it was decided that Miss Davie would keep the boys as far from each other for the entire day, except during class game time, when they would be partners for one game each day. Other than that, the only other time they would be forced to spend together would be twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for one hour. Tuesdays would be spent at Merlin's apartment, while Thursday's would be at Uther's castle. This meant the boys would be leaving for Arthur's together, directly from the school, the very next day.

* * *

Finally, forty-five minutes after the meeting began, it ended. Hunith quickly called Elizabeth, so to say goodnight to Merlin.

"Elizabeth? Hi! It's Hunith, is Merlin enjoying and behaving himself?" She greeted.

"Hello! Yes, the boys seem to be having a fantastic time. I know Will certainly never wants him to leave!" Elizabeth giggled. "And Merlin has been an angel since the moment he walked in the door. Would you like to speak with him?"

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to say goodnight."

Hunith heard the phone be shuffled and her son's name called out, "Here he is." Elizabeth said.

"Mummy! Hi mum!" Merlin yelped loudly into the phone.

Hunith had to pull the phone away from her ear before replying, "Hi, sweetheart! Are you having fun?"

"So much fun, mum! Will and I made paper airplanes, and we raced them, and he showed me how to make them go farther and farther! You put a paperclip on it and it goes really far! Woosh! Really very far, mum! You'll see."

"Tell her about the racecars!" Hunith heard Wills excited screech through the phone.

Before Merlin could begin to tell Hunith interrupted, "Wait! I'd love to hear all about everything, but the two of you must be getting to bed. You can tell me tomorrow, okay?"

"But mum…" Merlin whined.

"No but's, Merlin. I love you very much. I'm so glad you're having a good time. Listen to everything Miss Liz says, alright? And go to bed when she says!"

"Okay mum. I love you too!" Was Merlin's disappointed but sincere response. He handed back the phone, and took off with Will, to get ready for bed.

The two had a competition to see who could get into pajamas the fastest. Will won by a landslide.

"Darn." Merlin pouted, struggling to pull his arm through the sleeve.

"You pajamas are really cool!" Will cried. Merlins pajamas, naturally, had black dragons drawn all over the otherwise white bottoms. His shirt was black, with a single white dragon.

"The dragon on my shirt glows! See?" Merlin flipped off the light, and proved that the dragon did, in fact, glow slightly.

Will's pajamas were navy blue with rocket ships and stars on them. They were zip up feetie pajamas, that were slightly too large, so the sleeves flopped awkwardly around the boy's hands. No matter how many times he pushed them up, they just fell straight back down again.

After that, the boys brushed their teeth. Again, they made it into a competition, this time to see who could spit out the most foam. Though it was close, Merlin won.

"Yay!" The scrawny child giggled, wiping his mouth on the towel he had been given by Will.

Will poked Merlin's stomach "I could've won, if I had more time!"

"But then I would have had more time too!" Merlin smirked, and Will poked him again. And again. And again.

Fairly soon, Elizabeth walked in to find the two boys having a poking war, neither allowing the other to leave the bathroom first.

"Boys." She crooned, "It's 9:00! In bed now!"

"Okay" They both replied, shooting smiles up at her before racing down the hallway into Will's bedroom. Thankfully for Merlin Will had a second bed, so he didn't have to sleep on the floor.

They both climbed into their respective beds, and Elizabeth walked in, said goodnight and gave them both a final hug before switch off the lamp and closing the door.

It took all of five minutes for Will to whisper, "Merlin? Are you awake?"

"Mhmmm." The boy hummed a response.

Will flicked on a flashlight he had hidden in his bed, and climbed onto Merlins.

When the smaller boy sat up Will grinned wickedly, "Now we plan our revenge on prince prat!"

The two stayed up plotting and whispering for another hour, before slowly falling asleep. The next morning Elizabeth found the both of them curled up on the one bed, blankets sprawled everywhere.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who voted on the magic situation! Remember to leave a review. I love hearing what you have to say, and I also love criticism (and praise) so I can know what exactly you like and dislike, so to make sure you enjoy future chapters. I think this my longest chapter yet. Go me! Thanks for reading, and as usual, I don't own Merlin. All rights belong to BBC. **


	12. Chapter 11

"Will? Merlin? Wake up, school today!" Elizabeth opened Will's bedroom door. She blinked, surprised to find her son at the foot of the spare bed, with drawn on papers spread out across the gap between the two boys. She decided to let it go, since she doubted the two had managed to stay up much later than when she had put them in bed.

Merlin rubbed his fists against his eyes, and smiled at Elizabeth. "Morning, Miss Liz. Will! Wake up." With a yawn he kicked his friends leg lightly. The other child was such a heavy sleeper, that he didn't stir at all.

Merlin climbed out of the bed and began shaking it, once Will's mother had left.

Finally Will groggily opened his eyes "Quit it, will you?"

"Not till you get up!" Merlin continued to shake the bed. Will swatted at Merlin's arms, and realizing Merlin wasn't lying pinned the smaller boys hands down, so he couldn't shake the bed.

"Much better" Will sighed, closing his eyes again.

Merlin gave up, at this point, and after struggling to pull his hands out, he got dressed.

"Morning!" Merlin sang, as he left the room, fully dressed, leaving behind a still sleeping Will.

"Good morning, Merlin!" Will's father, Charles, who had not been home the night before, said with surprise. "When on earth did you get here?"

"I slept over! Cause mummy had to go to the school to talk to Miss Davie and Mr. Pendragon." It took all of Merlin's willpower not to call him the clotpole's father.

"Oh, I wish I had known, I would have set up a fire for the two of you to roast marshmallows on!" Charles was slightly disappointed that he had missed his son's first sleepover.

"S'okay!" Merlin told him, "We had lots of fun!"

Elizabeth walked in then, fresh waffles in hand "Is Will still not up? Will! Wake up!" She ended with a shout.

"No…" Came the tired moan from down the hall. Elizabeth sat the waffles down, knowing her son was awake, if he was talking. Five minutes later Will emerged, his hair sticking up in odd clumps, and his shirt on backwards.

"You look funny, Will!" Merlin giggled. Will simply poked him, and sat at the table, between Merlin and his father.

"Will, your shirt." Elizabeth sighed, like this was a daily occurrence. Without even waiting for him to stand up, she pulled it off and turned it around for him.

Merlin found that the mornings were far more rushed at Will's house, than at his own, most likely because they had woken up so late. Nonetheless, he managed to eat his entire breakfast, brush his teeth and pack up his things, within the few minutes he was given before having to leave. Thankfully, Will managed to as well, despite hardly having opened his eyes since he woke up. In fact, Merlin wasn't quite sure his friend _was_ awake!

* * *

The walk to the school took a bit longer than it would had Merlin left from his own home. Partially because the two boys decided that they were space men. Will had turned evil, because of an alien, so Merlin was checking every bush for the suspect, trying to shoot it (with his hands in the shape of a gun) each time it appeared. Will chased after Merlin at the same time screaming in the scariest voice he could muster "No! My pet! My precious pet!"

Elizabeth decided she would find it cute, were they not late, and eventually scooped the two small children up, ignoring the complaints and struggles that came from the both, and rushed the rest of the way to the school.

"Mum! I missed you!" Merlin screamed, deciding only now that he really had missed his mother. With a grin Hunith took her son out of Elizabeth's arms and into her own.

"I missed you!" She kissed Merlin on the cheek, before adding, "But Merls. I have some bad news… Mr. Pendragon is making you still be Arthur's study partner. You have to go home with Arthur after school today."

"What?!" Merlin screeched, pushing himself out of his Mother's arms. "Mummy you promised! I won't go!" A few people turned to stare at the five year old, as he crossed his arms and willed himself not to cry.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, Miss Davie and Mr. Pendragon thought it might help the two you be nicer to each other. I tried to make them see differently, but they wouldn't. You are going to go, and you will be kind to Arthur. And also to his sister Morgana, who I've heard is also in your class?" Hunith finished talking, with the attempt to distract the boy from Arthur.

"Yeah… She's okay." Merlin grumbled. He took the books from his mothers hands, handed her his sleepover materials, and stalked off into the school.

Will hugged his mother goodbye, and as a second thought turned and hugged Hunith as well, "That's from Merlin." He stated, before turning on his heel, "Merlin wait!" He called, chasing after the smaller child.

Both mothers just sighed and watched the boys run inside.

* * *

School that day was torturous. Despite having been kept separate most of the day, Merlin was mad at Arthur. There was _no way_ he was going to the clotpole's house! Apparently for once the two boys were in agreement that Merlin would not be going, as Arthur kept shooting glares his way.

The day, despite Merlin being angry the whole time, was uneventful. That was, of course, up until game time.

"For the last game," Miss Davie announced, "I will be choosing your partners. If I hear any protests about who I choose, the whole class will sit in silence for one minute per protest. Understood?" The whole class nodded. They had come to realize that when Miss Davie told them not to do something, they didn't or there were consequences.

"Good. Will and Leon, Gwen and Mali, Morgana and Damien…" The partner choosing continued on until finally, "Merlin and Arthur." Every single student in the room gasped. They all knew very well how the two acted together, and were shocked that their teacher who was so smart, would do something so dumb.

Merlin trudged over to where Arthur stood, shuffling his feet.

"For this game," Miss Davie ignored the boys obvious anger, "We will compete to see who can build the highest tower. If it falls over, you're out, and have to go sit on the carpet. Okay?" Without waiting for questions she placed 25 blocks in front of each group. "One minute starts… Now!"

Immediately Arthur pulled the blocks towards himself, "I'll take care of this! I can't have a cabbagehead like you make me lose!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Merlin protested. "Besides! If you pile them up like that they will just fall over! You have to put three, then two and then pile them!"

"What would you know, weirdo?" Arthur said, as he hit Merlins hand away.

"Quit it, Arthur!" Merlin demanded, getting angrier by the second. "Look! It's falling now, you clotpole!" Sure enough, the tower Arthur had built was beginning to tilt. Ignoring Merlin, he continued to stack.

"Ten seconds," Miss Davie warned the class.

"Arthur!" Merlin screamed again, moving closer to the blocks. Arthur took this unbalanced second of Merlin shifting his weight, to push the smaller boy. Merlin stumbled backwards, and ran directly into Arthur's half sister. He and Morgana's heads bashed together with a distinct thud.

"You prat!" They both screamed at Arthur. Arthur turned to glare, and in doing so, sent the small gust of air towards the tower that finally knocked it over.

Of course, it still was Merlin's fault. If he hadn't been shouting at him, this never would have happened! And, seeing no better way to handle this, he tackled Merlin.

Well… he _tried _to tackle Merlin. But the boy was intercepted mid leap by an extremely angry Miss Davie. The teacher stammered for a minute, utterly unable to handle the present situation.

Finally she set the boy on his feet, none too gently, and turned towards Merlin and Morgana, "You two, go to the nurse, you hit your heads rather hard. Tell the nurse you are to have ice on them for at least five minutes. Arthur. You need to stop hitting people. This game was meant so that the class would begin to work together. Clearly I was wrong to think the future king would be able to handle such a thing…"

Arthur's face became very red. Miss Davie had reprimanded him the same way his father would.

He crossed his arms and grumbled "It's all Merlin's fault." Truthfully, he was only acting angry, so nobody would be able to tell that the boy was about to cry. If there was one thing Arthur hated, besides Merlin of course, was knowing that he had failed.

"I like you, Merlin. You aren't scared of my brother." Morgana broke the awkward silence that had engulfed the two children upon leaving the room.

"How do you live with him_all _ the time? He's such a meanie!" Merlin was truly curious.

"Our house is quite big. It's easy to ignore him. I'll show you how when you come over today! Our daddy told us you would be. You will still come, right? Gwen is coming over! And, I can show you all the ways to make Arthur mad. He might try to hurt us, but it's quite funny. And I'm stronger than him!" Without meaning to, Morgana was practically begging this boy to come.

She had seen how much he disliked her brother, and how much her brother disliked him, and was quite amused. If her brother were a nicer person, she would help him plan the pranks he was planning on pulling, but she had decided instead on helping Merlin. He seemed kind.

"I don't think mum would be very happy if I didn't go. But I still don't want to." Merlin replied, a little harshly.

"Is this the nurse's room? I can't read the sign." Morgana's face flushed a little, but she knew the boy was much better at reading than the rest of the class.

"I guess so… It's got an N at the front." Merlin seemed unsure, but he opened up the door anyways.

There was nobody in the room at all. It was completely empty. On one side, was a pair of beds, with paper sheets. On the other, three chairs, and a freezer. Directly in front of where the children could see, was a desk, that seemed to loom over them.

"My doctor has beds like these." Merlin stated, "I guess this must be the nurse. Do we have to get our own ice packs?"

Morgana shrugged, "I guess. The freezer?" With no hesitation, she walked over to the freezer, and pulled it open. Like the room, it was completely empty. Now a tad frightened, she slammed it shut again.

"What's wrong? What's in there?" Merlin demanded, walking over.

Morgana shook her head, "Nothing. I mean it, though. Nothing."

The two children looked at each other, for a split second before nervously scrambling for the door. As Merlin reached out to pull the handle, the door swung open viciously, causing both children to fall backwards.

Into the room rushed a large woman, is some sort of pink concoction of clothing. Even the band holding her hair back was a cruel-to-the-eyes shade of pink.

Walking with her, though looking like he might stumble, was a boy, carrying an opened plastic bag in his hand. He had clearly just been sick, and looked like he might be again.

Merlin and Morgana tried then, to sneak out, without the pink lady seeing them. Sadly, the woman barely caught a glimpse of them, and, having been unaware any children where in the office, let out a short, shrill shriek.

Morgana screamed in return, grabbing onto Merlin's arm. Merlin, grabbed her arm in return, his eyes quickly filling with tears.

The two ran out of the room with the woman calling "Children! Children!" after them. They didn't stop though. They ran all the way back to their classroom. Which was down two hallways but really! It was very far!

That was when the school dismissal bell rang, causing the two to scream again.

Miss Davie rushed out of the room, before her students had the chance, to find Merlin and Morgana holding onto each others arms and gasping for air through their tears. It was an utterly pitiful sight.

* * *

After spending a few minutes calming them down (and telling them the pink woman was the nurse) they were allowed to leave.

"That was kinda scary" Morgana giggled slightly.

"Kinda? I don't even know how you screamed so loudly!" Merlin teased, feeling much better.

"At least I didn't cry like a baby," Morgana replied with a smirk.

"Merlin!" Will, screamed running up to the new friends as soon as they walked outside. "What happened?"

"We were attacked!" Merlin whispered dramatically. "By a scary lady in pink!"

"Morgana! We have to go! Now!" Arthur demanded.

"You wait your butt." Morgana shouted back. "Bye Will! Come on, Merlin." She grabbed the boys arm, and with a final wave to Will, pulled him towards Arthur, calling for Gwen as she went. Will and Merlin shared a slightly stricken look, and Merlin seemed as though he might run away, if he could.

* * *

Waiting for the arrival of an adult was tedious, though it lasted only a few seconds. Moments after Gwen, Morgana and Merlin arrived at the curb next to Arthur and Leon (who looked slightly upset) the same limousine that had dropped the king off earlier, pulled up.

"What's the matter with you, Leon?" The driver asked, without acknowledging the others kids who were waiting.

"Hi. Can I come home with Arthur today, Mr. H? Mum isn't going to be home, and she told me to tell you this morning, but I forgot to ask." Leon wiped his hands on his shorts, seeming so afraid that he may offend the driver.

"Sure." The driver, Mr. H, shrugged, without noticing how upset the boy looked. "All of you in."

Arthur got in first, followed shortly by Leon. Naturally. Morgana told Gwen to get in next, then turned to Merlin.

"Are you coming?" She demanded.

"No. He isn't. And if you don't get in, we will leave you too." Arthur shouted, before Merlin had even the slightest chance to answer.

Arthur began to reach over to the door, but was stopped by Mr. H.

"Arthur," He said, a warning tone in his voice, "You father won't be happy to hear that you slammed your sisters hand in a door. Nor will he be pleased to find you tried to get rid of, Merlin, was it?" He addressed Merlin with the last part, and Merlin managed to meekly nod his head.

"In." Morgana stated simply as she pushed the small boy into the vehicle.

As soon as the Merlin and Morgana were situated, with Merlin oh so conveniently located within kicking distance of Arthur, Mr. H sped off.

* * *

**I'm going to be perfectly honest in saying, I am not that proud of this chapter. I have had huge plans for this story recently, but need a sort of filler chapter to get there. Honestly, was hoping for the major events to happen in this chapter, but I just couldn't seem to write it in. Next chapter should definitely be better. Please leave a review despite this. All rights belong to the BBC. (Does anybody want to help me kidnap Merlin? I seem to be having a tad bit of trouble with that mission...)**


	13. Chapter 12

As far as Merlin was concerned, he would be perfectly content never riding in a limo again, thank you _very_ much. The trip to the Pendragon castle was the first time Merlin had been in a limousine. In fact, as far back as he could recall, Merlin had never even been inside of a car. His mother very much preferred walking, and from the looks of it, so did he.

Merlin's stomach churned everytime he looked out the window, and his breathing became shallow. Apparently he looked like he might be ill as well, because Arthur had even stopped kicking him.

"It's pretty neat, isn't it?" Morgana gestured to the interior of the limo, very clearly trying to distract the boy. Merlin just nodded, twisting his hand just a little bit tighter into his shirt.

The children stopped talking all together then. Merlin did his best to ignore the flippy-floppy sensation in his stomach, and stared at his muddy sneakers as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Arthur snickered at Leon, hoping the other would find Merlins suffering amusing. The curly haired child only seemed concerned, and hadn't taken his eyes off of Merlin's face the entire ride over. That was, of course, until Arthur elbowed him in the ribs. Still he didn't meet the larger boys gaze, and shifted his eyes to the floor.

Now, Leon, despite his overly generous and nice composure that said otherwise, was an extremely clever and fast thinking child. What Arthur didn't know, was that Leon was actually formulating a plan on how to get the prince out of the line of fire, were Merlin to actually end up falling ill. Thankfully, no plans ended up being necessary, as they soon pulled through the gates of Pendragon castle.

The moment Mr. H stopped the car, Morgana leapt across Gwen, and slammed the car door open. She followed up by grabbing Merlin's shoulders, and practically throwing the boy out of the vehicle.

He stumbled, but caught himself, before shakily leaning against the limo.

"Merlin, why didn't you mention you get carsick?" Morgana demanded, worry evident in her voice.

"Didn't know…" Merlin shrugged, still taking deep breaths.

"You cabbagehead! How could you not know you get carsick?" Arthur had stepped out of the limo and was now laughing at the smaller boy.

Merlins head shot up, and he caught Arthur's eyes in a steely glare, before he looked down once again.

"I'm okay Gwen, really." Merlin forced a smile at the girl, who by this point had placed her hand on his forehead. The way her mum did when she felt ill.

It took approximately twentythree seconds for Merlin to feel uncomfortable with everyone else staring at him, and he pushed himself away from the car, and turned to face Morgana.

"Let's go then." She said, walking through the two giant white doors into the castle.

Gwen and Merlin gasped, and began spinning in circles trying to take in everything they could see.

"What do you two think?" Came the booming voice of Uther Pendragon himself, from the top of a set of stairs. The two children froze, unable to express how they were feeling.

"It's really very big." Gwen said, just loudly enough for Uther to hear.

"Yes, I suppose it is Gwen." Uther laughed. "Oh. Hello Leon, very nice to see you, as always." Leon flashed a respectful smile at the king, wringing his hands together like he had done something wrong. "Boys, why don't you three go Arthur's room and begin studying. I want you to practice the words your teacher has told you to. Okay? Girls, you can go study if you'd like, in Morgana's room."

"Well, Merlin, it looks like you will have to go to Morgana's room then." Arthur laughed, as he and Leon headed towards the stairs that clearly led to Arthur's bedroom.

"Arthur!" Uther snapped. "Merlin, I'm sorry, go with them. Just ignore Arthur, we will discuss his behavior later."

Arthur's ears turned a bright shade of pink and he muttered, "Merlin's still a girl." Fairly roughly Arthur grabbed the smaller boy, by the collar of his shirt and led him up the stairs with Leon following closely behind.

After two turns down a hallway, and many distressed glances towards Morgana, Merlin found himself alone with Arthur and Leon in Arthur's bedroom.

The boys mouth fell open and he stared around the room. It was gigantic! The whole bedroom was painted with the red of camelot. In one corner was a train set unlike anything Merlin had seen before. The trains were electronic and moved slowly around the track, going past figurine buildings and people. On the other side of the room was a chest, overflowing with blocks, toys and comic books. But there was one thing that was very clearly a prized item. It sat above the fireplace (though why any six year old need a fireplace in his bedroom was beyond Merlin) and was just low enough that Arthur could reach it, an impressively accurate, but blunt medieval model sword.

Merlin began to spin in circles the way he had upon entering the house, but Arthur simply pushed him over this time.

"Here." Arthur casually said, as he threw his backpack at Merlin. "Write the words for me cabbagehead, then Father will think we are studying."

"I won't do it for you Arthur." Merlin whispered.

"Oh?" Arthur made the word a question but Merlin knew it was a threat.

"I will not. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here. That doesn't mean I'll do all the work for you. I'll write my words, and you can write yours." Merlin was staring just above Arthurs head at this point.

"You see, Merlin, this is why you are a cabbagehead. You don't seem to understand, I am your prince. That means, you must do as I say. And do you know what I do to people that don't do what I say?" Arthur's face was very close to Merlin's, and Merlin could feel the larger boys breath hit his face.

Merlin gulped slightly before shaking his head.

"I throw them in the dungeons, to be eaten by the monsters! So. You will write the words for me." He enunciated each word with a jab to the smaller boys chest.

Merlin just shook his head before uttering a single word "No."

Arthur blinked before shouting, "Leon. The dungeons with him, now!" In seconds, Leon, who Merlin had honestly forgotten was with them, had pinned one of his arms behind his back, while Arthur pinned the other, and they began to drag him out of the room.

"Let go of-" Merlins cries were cut off by Arthur slamming his hand over the boy's mouth. Merlin began to thrash, but the other boys were both much larger and stronger than he was, and simply lifted him off his feet and proceeded to carry him down the steps.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs Merlin heard a door slam open and Morgana shriek, "Arthur!"

As Gwen and Morgana began to chase after them, Arthur and Leon began to move faster towards another set of stairs which they carried the thrashing boy down.

They reached the bottom just before Gwen and Morgana. It was a dark room, with cement flooring and no windows. But there was a door in one of the walls.

Arthur and Leon threw Merlin through this door though Merlin swore he heard Leon whisper "Sorry about this, Merlin." They slammed the door shut and Arthur laughed, like had just won a gold medal.

It was pitch black in the small room he had been shoved through. He couldn't see anything, not even the slight bit of light that ought to have been coming through the door. It was simply darkness.

On the other side Merlin could hear Morgana and Gwen shrieking "Let him out! You're so mean! Let him out! Arthur!"

Merlin tried to open the door handle, but it wouldn't move. This was when he really began to get upset. He felt around with his hands. It was an extremely small room, that he could touch every wall of without stepping, which was impress considering his arms were quite short.

Suddenly something fell with a bang. Merlin couldn't help and he screamed. Morgana and Gwens shrieks only got louder. The boy could hear a pounding over his head, but he could no longer tell what was going on

Merlin started to find it was hard to breath, and he felt like he was being squished by the walls. And to make matter worse the voice came back, calling his name, louder than ever, and yet he still couldn't hear them properly.

"Calm down Merlin!" One of the voices shouted, quite suddenly clear. Merlin felt a warm feeling growing inside of him, starting in his chest and spreading until it reached the very tips of finger and the tips of his toes.

Merlin didn't understand what was going on, and his panic only grew. Suddenly the door began to shake. Only slightly at first, but then the shaking increased.

Outside, the other four children were still wrestling for the key when Gwen gasped and pointed at the door, "What did you do?"

The door was vibrating, so fast the kids would not be able to tell if not for the creaking noise that accompanied it. Then the creaking noise only grew louder and louder.

The door exploded into millions of tiny pieces. Four childish screams could be heard throughout the castle. Merlin stood in the center of the small room, staring blankly where the door used to be, as if it were perfectly normal that it had exploded.

"Feel funny…" The small child whimpered, before crumpling in a heap on the ground. But not before the other children had seen Merlins eyes.

They were gold.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? I have to admit, I am actually quite proud of this chapter, even though it isn't very long. And we all know it isn't very often that I am proud. Sorry it took so much longer than normal to get this one out. Been super busy with surgery follow up stuff. It's quite bothersome. Anyways, please review the chapter! I literally live off of what you guys say. (Seriously though, I am annoying myself with how often I check to see if anyone said anything to find I only got one review. In three days...) Sorry to all of those who didn't want me to add magic into the story, but those who did won out. Also, I think I like it better this way. I'm rambling now, so I am just going to say, thanks to MagicalSingingAdventures, I have officially kidnapped Merlin. So thank you for that :) But sadly, we made an agreement that I would still say that all rights belong to BBC. Stinkin' Merlin...**


	14. AN 2

Hey guys.

So, unbeknownst to me, my parents have planned for a family vacation. As we leave this morning, I won't have the chance to add anymore chapters for a while. We should be back in 4 to 10 days. While we are away I will continue writing, and depending on your preference (and if I get more than one chapter written) I will upload them all in one day, or I will upload one a day. Tell me which you would prefer, if you so please.

-Holly :)


	15. Chapter 13

It took an entire minute for the children's shock to fully wash through them before Morgana rushed up the stairs, screaming for Uther to help, and Gwen dropped to her knees as she shook Merlin's shoulders in an attempt to wake the boy up.

Leon rocked himself back and forth whimpering over and over again, "wake up... Please... Wake up!"

Arthur however, despite being the prince and being the one who was supposed to be the bravest, didn't react as quickly. Sure, he had locked other children in the closet before, but this had never happened! The worst that had ever happened before, was a visiting nobleman's son wetting his trousers a few years back. Of course, all the children had tried to shake the door open, but it had never exploded! And no child had ever fainted before.

For the first time in his short life, Arthur felt… guilty.

Though it seemed like hours, it had only been three minutes before Uther and Morgana came rushing into the basement of the castle. Uther gasped at what he saw. Splinters of wood were sprawled across the floor, and some had even stuck inside the cement ceiling and walls, though how that had happened he had no idea.

The door to the small supply closet one of the maids had insisted upon having many years back, but never used except to keep a couple of unused brooms and mops, was completely destroyed. And in the middle of the door frame, in a slightly pathetic looking knot of gangly limbs and too big clothing, lay the boy who Uther himself had ordered to come over.

The king, in a manner quite unlike himself, scooped Merlin into his arms, and rushed the boy to the castle infirmary.

* * *

"Gaius!" The king called for the doctor.

"Lay him here! What happened?" The old man emerged from a side room, carrying a large book, pointing towards the small cot in the middle of the room.

Uther turned to the four children, a demanding look in his eyes. Arthur immediately looked down, playing with the loose strands on his shirt. Leon pressed himself against the wall and continuously licked his lips, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Morgana glared at the two boys, and Gwen looked like she might slap Arthur.

"Leon." Uther said, knowing fully well the boy would break down if asked "Leon, what happened to Merlin. And the door?"

Leon straightened his back and answered only the second question. "Merlin broke it! I don't know how but he did, I swear."

Uther sighed, "okay. And what happened to Merlin?"

Leon looked like he might either run from the room or cry. He swiped his hands on his trousers, opened his mouth before quickly shutting it again, and stared at Arthur for help.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Snapped Morgana, "these two idiots thought it was a very good idea to lock Merlin in a closet! I don't know why, but they wouldn't let him out. Then the door exploded and Merlin said he felt funny, and then fainted."

Gaius raised a single eyebrow at the children, "was there anything in particular odd about the boy, before he fainted?"

The four looked at each other, before Gwen gasped, as if only just realizing something, "His eyes! They were gold!"

Gaius, after a short pause, ushered the children out the room, with the excuse that he needed space to work.

* * *

"Arthur. Call Merlin's mother." Uther demanded of his son, as the children exited the room. "You tell her Merlin fainted. And when she gets here, you are going to tell her exactly what happened. You will apologize for locking him in the closet and afterwards I will tell you your punishment for acting in such an un-princely manner. Do you understand me?" Uthers voice was low and threatening. Arthur nodded meekly before running off, to Mr. H, who was the only one who actually knew Hunith's phone number.

"Hello?" Hunith answered her ringing cellphone, to a number she didn't recognize.

"Ms. Hunith?" Arthur asked, nervously.

"Yes, who is this?" Hunith asked.

"Umm." Arthur felt nervous. He hadn't met Merlin's mother and had no idea how she might react. "It's Arthur. Arthur Pendragon. Merlin fainted, and he hasn't woken up yet."

"Oh. Oh my. Thank you for calling me, sweetheart. I'll be there in a few minutes." Hunith gasped slightly. She hung up the phone, and rushed out the door in a frenzy of motherly panic.

On the other side of the phone, Arthur was blushing furiously. Nobody had ever called him sweetheart. Not his father, nor any other adult he had ever met. He had to admit, he kind of liked it.

* * *

The mansion of Uther Pendragon was around fifteen minutes away from Hunith's small apartment. Hunith, having heard her boy was hurt, had rushed there, knowing exactly the fastest way to get there. She tore across people's yards, and out back doors of buildings, despite the protests that were shouted at her. By the time she reached the house, best described as a castle, Hunith was gasping in an attempt to catch her breath.

She rang the doorbell three times, before a little girl opened the door.

"Hi. I'm Morgana, and my dumb brother has to tell you what happened to Merlin." The girl greeted Hunith, before shoving a boy with golden hair forward.

The boy had a look about him that immediately told Hunith this boy thought himself superior to all others, yet he wouldn't look her in the eye, and was wringing his hands together. Hunith wanted to pity the child, but was too upset to allow herself to waste the time.

"Arthur?" Hunith asked, kneeling down. The boy nodded as he glared at Morgana. "You don't have to tell me, just bring me to Merlin, alright?"

Arthur nodded before quickly turning and sprinting down the hall, leaving Hunith having to jog to keep up.

Morgana ran alongside Hunith stating multiple times "He has to tell! Daddy told him to!" Hunith merely ignored the girl until she heard a loud voice coming from the end of the hallway, where Arthur was leading her.

"Arthur? Did you tell Hunith what happened? What you did?" Uther opened up the door to what was quite clearly a doctor's suite, though why he need it in a home with only two children, Hunith wasn't sure.

"Well. No…" Arthur said. Upon seeing the steely glare of his father he hurriedly squeaked, "But she told me I didn't have to!"

Hunith had the good sense to have Arthur tell her what had happened immediately. She didn't quite trust Uther, and wasn't sure what the boys punishment would be, were he to not tell.

"Sweetie? If daddy told you to tell me, you should probably tell me. I know I told you not to before. What happened?" Hunith held Arthur's shoulders so he had to look her in the eye.

"Um. Well. Leon and I. We um. May have locked Merlin in a closet... And then not let him out. And then the door may or may not have exploded. And Merlin May or may not have fainted like a girl..." Arthur fidgeted a bit as he told the story.

"Arthur! Be polite." Uther warned.

"Sorry..." Arthur murmured, not quite sure what he had done wrong.

"Sweetheart, why did you lock Merlin in the closet?" Hunting asked, being far too kind for somebody who just found out her only son had been locked in a closet and the door had somehow exploded.

Arthur simply shrugged as he blinked his eyes to stop the tears from falling. Honestly, he'd never been so embarrassed. Here he was, in front of Leon and his sister, along with his enemies mother and his own father, all watching him as he held back tears. He wouldn't cry! He couldn't! He was the prince! He was to be king!

As if reading his mind, which Arthur was fairly certain she could do, Hunith knelt down again and said "Arthur. I know someday you will make a fine king for us, and will get to make all the rules. But, until then, the rules we have now are the rules you must follow. Especially if your father says so. So, I'm sure there's a reason, but even so, you shouldn't lock people in closets, okay? Now, before I go check on Merlin, is there anything else I should know?"

Arthur was amazed by the woman. She was perfect. How could an annoying cabbage head like Merlin be her son?

Without even meaning to, Arthur leaned in and whispered, "Merlin's eyes were gold, and he said he felt funny..."

Hunith nodded, like this wasn't big news, ruffled Arthur's hair the way she would Merlin's, and walked into Gaius' office.

* * *

"I was concerned this might happen." The old man in the room said, as he placed a newly dampened cloth on the little boys head.

"How could this happen Gaius? The voices. You said it was just a bad case of sleep paralysis! What is it, if it's not? What is it really?" Hunith practically screeched at the man, her panic finally getting the best of her upon seeing her son pale and shaking on the bed.

"I told you my concerns that it could be something worse. I hoped I was wrong. But it isn't sleep paralysis." Gaius was an intelligent man, but Hunith was a mother, and could easily tell he wast avoiding her questions.

"What is it Gaius?" She demanded to know, "What's wrong with my boy?"

Far more calmly than the woman before him, Gaius stated, "There's nothing in particular wrong, my dear. It just isn't sleep paralysis... It's magic."

* * *

**I want to apologize for taking so long to upload this. I recently got obsessed with a few new shows, and haven't paused to stop watching since I got back from vacation. And I couldn't write then, because I got yelled at every time I tried. I am very sorry. I will try to have another chapter, if not two for you guys tomorrow. I make no promises though, because clearly I'm not very good at following through with them. Leave a review if you still love me! All rights to Merlin and characters belong to the BBC.**


	16. Chapter 14

"Gaius. I don't understand. He's just a boy, he's had no training. Besides, no being has possessed magic in thousands of years. Surely. Surely my little Merlin can't have magic."

"Hunith. Merlin's father, his name was Balinor, yes?" Gaius asked, even though he knew full well who Merlin's father was.

"Yes. Of course. You know that Gaius. What does that have to do with the fact that _my son _possesses magic?" Like most mothers would, Hunith was getting more and more upset with every word she spoke.

"Yes. Yes I did know. Hunith, as you know, Merlin's father was a great man in more ways than one. He was the descendant of the last great dragonlord. Now, Balinor himself didn't possess magic but the last great prophecy promised a boy who would return magic to our world, with the help of another child." Gaius glanced at Merlin who still lay pale and shaking on the bed. "As it would seem Merlin might just be that boy."

"I don't understand Gaius. Merlin, he's only five years old! Surely that's far too young for him to bring magic back to the kingdom?" Hunith lifted her son from the bed, wiping his forehead with a damp towel.

"I'm afraid it won't be easy Hunith. Many people don't believe in magic, especially not since Uther came to be king. I recall once, when Arthur was a mere toddler, one of his nursemaids was showing him a variety of card tricks. Uther fired her, and practically banished the woman from the castle. He believes the idea of magic to be foolish and will say its nonexistent under every circumstance. I asked all of the other children to not mention Merlin's eyes to the king. They've all agreed, even Arthur, though reluctantly." Gaius knew Hunith would not have been happy with the king knowing of her son, and knew it was the right decision to tell her that he wouldn't know.

After a moment of being on the verge of tears, Hunith shook Merlin's shoulder gently and whispered "Merlin. Merlin, my sweet. It's time to wake up now."

With instinctive reluctance the small child blinked before breathing in a shaky breath. His eyes darted across the room, and for just one second the whole world was silent. And then Merlin screamed.

* * *

The four other children sat still as statues on the other side of the door. They had heard everything Gaius and Hunith had said about magic. But that was crazy! Surely there had to be a better explanation for the door exploding. And what had they meant by voices and sleep whatever?

Before they had a chance to even consider other possibilities a soul shattering scream tore the castle. The four jumped away from the door with such force, you've thought they'd been thrown.

In a far more princely manner than when Merlin had fainted, Arthur raced towards the door and shoved open the door as fast as any respectable prince ought to. Though he wouldn't admit it, he wanted to make sure Hunith was alright. She had treated him the way a mother should treat her son, and nobody had ever been so kind to him before.

When the children peered into the room they saw Merlin in his mothers lap pale and shivering. The boy was curled in on himself and was pressing his hands over his ears as he screamed.

Hunith clutched the boy in her arms tightly, though it wasn't as if he were trying to get away. Hunith was whispering something in the boys ear, but the four children couldn't make it out.

After what was most _definitely _hours of being frozen to the spot staring at the screaming boy, Merlin calmed down.

"Okay, Merls, I'm putting you down now, can you stand?" Hunith whispered in her son's ear. After a reluctant nod Hunith placed the boy on his feet.

"Merlin? What happened?" Morgana asked timidly,causing him to whirl around. Merlin hadn't realized anybody but his mother was in the room.

"I- I- I don't know." Merlin sniffled, wiping tears from his eyes.

The five children stood frozen, staring at each other. Merlin, more confused and scared than the rest felt very uncomfortable. He really had no idea what had happened. He remembered Arthur and Leon locking him in a closet and a lot of screaming. He remembered being frightened and angry and embarrassed all at the same time. And then... Nothing.

Even Arthur, who had very little sense of how others might be feeling, could tell the child was absolutely terrified. He even managed to note the fact that the other boys hand kept twitching like he might have to cover his ears again. What he was even covering his ears from in the first place was a mystery to Arthur.

As it turned out, Arthur's suspicions were completely accurate. Without warning Merlin's hands shot up to his ears before his face contorted in pain and he began screaming again. However when he screamed this time, it was not a pure shriek.

After a moment "Mum! Make them stop! Be quiet!" was added into the screaming.

"Gaius? I don't understand, nobody's said anything!" Gwen, clearly more comfortable with the doctor than Hunith, shot a frightened glance from Merlin to the older man.

"Out. Merlin's just frightened and confused, give him some space. All four of you. Out now." Gaius nearly pushed the little ones out of the room in his desperate attempts to not have to tell the children what they'd already heard about magic. Of course, he didn't know they'd been listening.

* * *

Merlin was an absolute mess. In his mind, the voices had always been in something like a fish tank of sorts. But now. Now the glass had shattered and the voices wouldn't be quiet.

There were too many voices. He couldn't understand what they were saying. Not fully at least. Many were shouting something about it being time or not being time... Merlin couldn't tell. Other were shouting for each other to stop talking, which wasn't helping. But more so than the rest, the voices were just babbling. In fact, many if them were utterly incoherent making squeaking and squealing noises. Or roaring back and forth, like it were completely normal.

Finally, _finally,_ the same voice that had broken the glass and been the first one Merlin had really heard, shouted again. "Enough!" It screamed. "Can't you all see you're hurting the child! He's trying to ward us off with magic, and his body isn't ready for it. You're all frightening him. Now. Be. Silent."

For a moment there was silence. Even Merlin had stopped screaming. _Magic? _

"You have much to learn young warlock. But that is an issue for morning. Sleep now, little one. You will feel safer in your own home." The voice was oddly soothing and Merlin felt himself drift into darkness.

* * *

Merlin collapsed as Gaius re-entered the room. The man feared for a second the boy had resorted back into the worrying state of shaking and fever, but the child seemed to be simply asleep.

Gaius was certain of it when Hunith laughed quietly "the poor boys fallen asleep!"

"Take him home Hunith. Explain everything to him when he wakes up. I'd keep him from school for some time. Give him the chance to recover. Go." Gaius shoved her towards the door.

As she left, Gaius realized, whether he wanted any part in the prophecy or not, being the only one to truly know much about magic he would have to help.

* * *

Near the front entrance, Uther was waiting. For the entire time the boys mother had been in his home, he'd been debating how the door mauve broken the way it did. Clearly, the child was too small to break it himself and if it weren't opening Morgana and her peasant friend, Gwen, would've come running. Uther knew something was wrong, but he knew, of course magic couldn't be involved because magic doesn't exist.

"Hunith. I want to apologize for what happened. Is your son alright?" He asked, a little snappily. Hunith jumped, not having realized the king was there.

"Oh! Yes, he's quite alright. A bit tired. I'm sure he will be fine soon enough. I want to apologize for all the trouble we've caused today. If you wouldn't mind, I do think it might be a good idea to have the boys try this study partner thing at my home." At this point, Hunith was sure she would do anything to keep her son out of this house, but she was also intelligent enough to know who exactly Gaius had meant when he told her Merlin would need the help of another child.

"Of course. As soon as the boy recovers. Hopefully next time they get more studying done. " Uther nodded, opening the door dismissively.

"Thank you. And, my apologies again, your highness." Hunith bowed her head respectfully before Uther grunted and closed the door.

Merlin was far easier to carrying when he wasn't asleep, Hunith decided as she attempted to open the door to their apartment.

When finally she managed to, she lay the boy on the couch with a blanket, before sitting herself in the neighboring chair. She would spend the night sitting in the chair waiting for the child to wake, in case he should need her, or his fever should return.

"It's going to be a very long week_." _She thought as she began to write another unsent letter to the man who should've been her husband.

* * *

_Dear Balinor,_

_Your fears have come true. We have a son, I've named him Merlin. He's a very good boy. Small and extremely quick to tears, yes, but a good child nonetheless. He's brave, much like you. He is willing to stand up to anyone for a cause he believe in, but is quick to defend the same person in a difficult situation. I consider myself to be very lucky that he has been blessed with knowledge beyond his years and an ability to be kind to everyone he sees. However, that has made his life difficult already, as many boys see him as girly and weird. Thankfully the boy has made a good friend of a child, Will. _

_But, yes. Your worst fears have come to play now. Our son possesses magic. As I am writing this, Merlin's toys are floating from his bedroom to the couch where he sleeps. I have to refrain from screaming each time I see a stuffed animal floating carelessly towards us. _

_You would have laughed. _

_Truthfully, I hope beyond hope that you were wrong about what's to come. The child is barely five years old. He's still my little baby. I can't imagine him being out in any sort of danger. As it is, he hears voices in his head. And I now understand what they are. _

_They are the beings of magic, aren't they? You would know. The ones that speak, they must be those with sorcery in them. Otherwise, they must be dragons. _

_Do you remember my brother, Gaius? He has become the physician to the kings two young children, both of which are our sons age. Anyway, Gaius told me of what your family was. I suppose this makes our boy the next great dragon lord. Does that mean he can speak top dragons? He keeps a Komodo dragon in his bedroom. Can he speak to it? He named it Kilgharrah. You mentioned something about the name once. What was it?_

_I believe it was something like "a dragon comes to pass, Kilgharrah be its name, everything will change at last, nothing remains the same." Yes, that must've been it. What is going to change? Am I going to lose our son? He is my last memory of you, I don't think I could bear to lose him. Even if he bore no resemblance whatsoever, he is my child. I have raised him. I will not allow him to be taken from me._

_I wish you were here, Balinor. You would have known how to help our son. I know you left to protect us, but sometimes, I feel so very vulnerable and unprotected I don't know what to do. Now more so than ever. Merlin could use a father in his life. He talks of you often. He doesn't quite understand why you left. In truth, he doesn't understand he has magic yet either. I must explain that to him when he awakens. _

_Oh Balinor. How do I explain this to a child? Even though the boy is brave, and knowledgeable, he is a child. I could use your advice in this moment. _

_With much love,_

_Hunith_

_P.s: please come home to us soon_

* * *

And as all letter to Balinor before. She locked it inside the drawer of the table beside the chair, never to be seen again by anyone but herself. With that, she too closed her eyes and slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

**So, I can't say I am entirely sure how I feel about this chapter. I quite liked my letter to Balinor, but otherwise, I am not sure. I have a really busy weekend ahead of me, but expect an update before Wednesday. Please leave a review. (I am extremely obsessed with reviews. It's bad). Tell me how you felt about the chapter. Anyway, all rights to Merlin belong to BBC!**


	17. Chapter 15

Normally Merlin was a particularly early riser, so it was nervewracking when he hadn't woken until an hour before noon. At the time Hunith was bring the toys that Merlin's had flown into the sitting room before, back into his bedroom. Of course, it was taking far longer than she had hoped because they would occasionally drift back. Hunith had tried closing door, but the toys would just slam against it with peculiar sounding thuds.

Hunith had just put the final toy back, when she came out to see Merlin sitting on the couch with his knees drawn to his chest. He didn't look frightened or in pain, which Hunith was grateful for. In fact, the child looked focused. When she saw what he was looking at she understood why. Directly across from him, the small plastic dragon he'd gotten on his birthday, the one that had caused the hatred between him and Arthur, was flying in circles around the kitchen table.

"Mummy?" Merlin asked, not looking away from the toy "Why is it doing that?" Hunith hadn't a clue on how to answer. She was shocked that he wasn't scrambling over to her. In fact, as she thought of this, the child got up and walked over to the toy. The moment he tried to reach for it, it flew directly into his hand.

"Good morning Merls." Hunith elected to discuss the reason behind the dragons flying later after her son had eaten.

Apparently Merlin had the same thought because his immediate response was "Can we have eggs, mum?"

Teary eyed at how easily her son snaps out of being confused or afraid, Hunith quickly agreed.

Moments later mother and son were sitting at the table, staring silently at each other over steaming plates of scrambled eggs. Hunith had made some for herself as well, having been too nervous to eat before the child woke up.

"How was my dragon flying, mum?" Merlin broke the silence, with his mouth full of egg.

"Chew, Merlin." Huntih admonished. When the boy swallowed with a dramatic gulp she sighed. "How do I explain this to you?" She asked, mostly to herself.

"Wait. Mummy? Weren't we at Arthur's? When did we come home? What happened? Why'd the door explode?" The child bombarded his mother with questions before she even had the chance to answer.

"Slow down! One question at a time. Which is first?"

Merlin thought for a minute before slowly asking, "When did we come home last night?"

Hunith, relieved by the easy question, replied with a simple, "We left Arthur's around dinner time. More questions?"

"Did I have dinner?"

"No. You were asleep."

"I'm not a baby! I don't sleep before dinner anymore!" Hunith could feel Merlin's foot stomp under the table, even though she couldn't see it.

"No feet stomping! You don't want to make Mr. Simmons mad again, now do you?" Merlin blushed slightly, before tucking his feet under his chair. Hunith took that as her signal to explain. "Merls... You had a really long day and something happened that made you fall asleep."

Before Huntih could explain what happened, Merlin asked his next question "How was my dragon flying?"

"Magic." Hunith answered bluntly. Having decided that might be the best way to explain. Her son blinked at her a couple times before erupting into laughter.

"You're silly mum." Merlin gasped, catching his breath.

"Merlin. I'm being serious, okay? We need to talk." Hunith had stood up now, and lifted Merlin out of his chair, forcing him to look at her.

Merlin's smile quickly turned into a frown, and he latched his arms around his mother's neck. Naturally, he had no clue why she was upset, but he knew he wanted to comfort her.

"Merlin, last night, did Arthur and his friend lock you in a closet?" Hunith asked. When Merlin hummed in response she continued, "Did anything happen when they did this?"

"Well. It was dark and I got scared. And the voices came back mum. Lots of em. And. And… One of them said something louder than the rest. And then the door blew up! And I felt really funny. And then… Um. I don't know. I woke up. You were there, mum. And the voices were screaming, and it hurt. And. And… Mummy. I don't remember what happened." The raven haired child began to sob then, confused and scared.

Hugging Merlin closer, Hunith whispered "Merlin. It will all make sense soon. But you must calm down."

The woman had clearly underestimated Merlins fear as he pushed away from her, something she couldn't remember him ever doing before and screamed "No! What happened? Mum! Tell me what happened! Why don't I remember?" The boy was dragging his hands through his hair and stomping his feet despite his mother's earlier warning.

That was when the lights began flickering. It was like something out of a cheesy horror movie. First the lights began flickering, then the small television set snapped to life, incoherent words and phrases smashing together as the channels switched over and over, finally, the pages of the books sprawled around the house began to flip themselves.

Eventually Merlin opened his eyes and saw this happening, he screamed again "mummy!" and rushed over to Hunith scrambling back into her arms. His crying had become more severe causing the lights to flicker faster.

"Merlin. Calm down. If you can stop crying, the lights will stop, okay?" Hunith rocked her son back and forth until finally, _finally, _he did stop crying. As she promised, the lights stopped flickering, the television turned off and the books settled back to where they originally were.

"Mum…" Merlin whispered, yet again, still clinging to her neck, looking over her shoulder.

"Merlin." Hunith responded gently, stroking the boys hair fondly. "I'm glad you've calmed down. You have to try to stay calm until you can control that, okay?"

"What was it, mummy?" Merlin choked, and as the light flickered he forced himself not to start crying again.

"Like I said sweetie, magic."

"But. Why?" Merlin had to ask. He was sure his mother wouldn't know the answer, but he felt it was important to ask.

However, Merlins beliefs proved yet again to be incorrect as Hunith sat him down and told him a great tale of dragons and their lords and other great users of magic.

* * *

**I'm sorry guys. Trust me, I know this chapter sucked. I'm not actually even relatively proud of this. The next chapter should be better. But hey! I got this one out when I said I would! Yay me. Leave a review, if you want to. I love it when you do! All rights go to BBC and blah blah blaaaah.**


	18. AN 3

Hey guys!

Sorry it's been a while, I've been super busy! The next chapter should be out later this evening or tomorrow morning. So, clearly, I have a semi-strict storyline to follow throughout the rest of this story. But I also have a lot of friendship fluff idea things that I want to write. So there's another decision for you guys to make! Would you prefer that I continue just with the storyline and let the story finish eventually or write the fluffy stuff into the story, which means it would probably continue to be updated until I get bored with it. Please note, if you choose the finish the story option, I will just have a different story for all of the friendship fluff, that will be updated on occasion.

So, finish the story and have another for the extra adventure in between, or have their extra adventures in the same story? Personally, I prefer the first option but I will go with whichever you guys want.

If I get five reviews telling me which you prefer, I will release one of said stories by Friday. Okay? Go!


	19. Chapter 16

Despite regaining his health, Merlin didn't return to school for three weeks. Through out the time period, the child had almost no control over his magic. During the first few days, toys would suddenly start flying, causing the boy to panic, which meant more would start flying until Hunith would manage to calm him down enough to help him make them stop. As Merlin became more comfortable with his newfound powers, glasses of water would make themselves, flowers would spring through the floorboards and occasionally a flame would appear in the boys hand. At the end of the third week, Merlin was finally able to have basic control over himself, and understood that he shouldn't use his magic where anybody could see him.

Sleeping, of course was still a problem. Whenever Merlin slept, his magic would go completely haywire. One morning, Hunith had woken up to find the entire house was blue. The floors, walls, furniture, toys, clothing, everything in the house was completely blue. It had taken Merlin two days, to change everything back.

It was when Merlin threw a tantrum due to being bored, at the end of his time without school, but he still kept his magic in check, that Hunith decided to let him go back. She had completely forgotten about the fact that Merlin was in kindergarten, and kindergarteners have to take naps in school.

* * *

"Merlin!" Will screamed, upon seeing his friend walk in the door. After practically smothering the boy in a bear hug he pulled back and demanded "Where have you been? Why wouldn't our mums let us see each other?"

"I've been sick." Merlin lied, though technically, he had been sick at first.

"And you're feeling better?" Will asked.

"Yeah! All better!" Merlin laughed in response.

"Good. Puzzles." Will grabbed the collar of Merlins shirt and dragged him off to the corner where boxes of puzzles sat. "I haven't done any since you left, cause I didn't wanna do them without you. Oh! And I got you one as a present!"

"You got me a present?" Merlin asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Well, yeah. I saw it, and I know you like dragons, so I asked mummy if we could get it for you, and she said we could!" Will smiled, before pulling a neatly wrapped box out of his backpack. "Mum wrapped it even though it's not your birthday or anything."

Merlin grabbed the box, and quickly ripped the wrapping paper off of the present, revealing a five thousand piece puzzle depicting a large red dragon sitting in on a boulder in a large cave.

"Will! This is so cool!" Merlin was nearly shouting, as he stared down at the box in his hands.

"Yeah!" Will agreed. "And it's got a lot of pieces! It's the biggest puzzle we will ever do!"

"Merlin, it's good to see you back in class, how are you feeling?" Miss Davie asked, suddenly appearing behind the two children.

"I'm feeling great! Look! Will got me a present! Can we use this puzzle in class?" Merlin held up the present, until he was practically shoving it in the teachers face. Miss Davie laughed, and the moment that she nodded the boys sat down and immediately poured out the contents of the box.

"Hey, Will?" Merlin asked.

"Hm?" Will hummed his response, as he fit two more pieces together.

"How long do you think it will take to finish this one? Our biggest one was a lot smaller." Will simply shrugged, rather than answering his friend.

* * *

By the time the boys had pieced together the outer rim of the puzzle, the door clicked open. Merlin and Will both looked up to see Arthur Pendragon standing in the doorway. He walked in and sat at his desk in complete silence.

"He's been like that ever since you went to his house. He hasn't been mean to anybody! Not even Morgana." Will whispered, staring at Arthur.

"Do you-"

Merlins question was instantly cut off by a screech of "Merlin!" before the boy was tackled simultaneously by Morgana and Gwen.

"You're back." Gwen pointed out.

"Yep! Hey! Don't break out puzzle!" Merlin answered.

"Can we help?" Morgana asked. Merlin glanced at Will who nodded, and the girls settled down to help complete the puzzle. Neither of the two girls mentioned that they knew about his magic.

* * *

The morning past uneventfully. If Arthur sitting at his desk all day, in silence, Leon considering playing games without Arthur (though not going through with it), and Will, Gwen, Morgana and Merlin becoming very good friends is considered uneventful.

But then, like all nice things, that came to a very abrupt end. It was right after lunch. Merlin had, had a nice meal of chicken soup and a brownie with frosting. And then it was naptime.

After a day full of games and learning, the children in the class were tired. Gwen and Morgana sat down near the dolls, whispering stories as they slowly drifted to sleep next to each other. Arthur rested his head on the desk, and fell asleep almost instantly, with Leon, watching him from the corner of his eye, wrapped in a blanket at the desk next to him. Will and Merlin took to the bean bag chairs in the corner. They pushed them all together making one giant bed of bean bag chairs.

"Merlin?" Will whispered, propping himself up on his elbows, when the smaller boy looked at him, without saying anything Will continued, "Were you really sick? Cause mum always brings soup to her friends when they're sick. And we didn't bring you any, but mummy likes you. So you couldn't've been sick, cause we'd've brought you soup."

"Will. If I tell you a secret, do you promise to keep it?" Merlin yawned, not even sitting up. He wished he could tell about his magic but he knew he couldn't, so he figured he would tell his friend that his mum kept him home, cause he'd gotten sick at Arthur's but was all better after just a couple of days, but his mum let him stay home anyways. He never actually got the chance, because before he had the chance, the child fell into a deep sleep.

"Meeeerrrlin." Will groaned quietly, hearing the light snores of his friend. Will was the only child that wasn't completely exhausted. Despite this he too, eventually fell asleep.

He dreamt that he was still in the classroom, and that everybody was asleep. He knew it must've been a dream because Merlins plastic dragon was flying around his head.

With a quiet giggle, he reached up to grab it, but it flew up even higher, and closer to where Merlin slept. He walked forwards on the bed of bean bag chairs. Will, like most five year olds, was certain that because he was dreaming he could do absolutely anything he wanted, so as he reached again for the toy, he stepped on his friends stomach, certain it would have no effect on the boy.

Of course, as he wasn't dreaming and hadn't even fallen asleep, Merlin woke up with a sharp intake of air. Will jumped off of his friend with a surprised shout.

"What was that for?" Merlin asked, gasping.

"I thought I was dreaming… Your dragon was flying. I swear it was!" Will crossed his arms as if to say he didn't care whether or not Merlin believed him.

With a slight gasp the smaller boys head shot up, to see his toy flying around his head. With a flash of gold in the boys eyes, the toy fell back into his lap.

"Merlin! You did it! You were making it fly! Was that magic? Are you magical Merls? This is so cool! We can have so much fun!" Will started screeching.

"Will! Shh. Nobody can know!" Merlin shouted back, covering his friends mouth with his hands.

Their shouting managed to wake up some of the other kids in the class, and they turned to see Merlin and Will, standing amidst a pile of bean bag chairs with Merlin's hands covering the other boys mouth.

With a smirk Arthur stared at the two boys. He knew exactly what they had been shouting about. According to the prince, it was clear from the grumbling of "too loud" none of the other dimwitted kids understood.

* * *

**Ugh! I know the last few chapters have been somewhat crappily written and 's going to be more eventful soon! I need three more reviews on the fluff stories if you guys want one released by Friday, which means I need three more by tonight. **

**Choice 1: I write the stories under a different name, and leave this to the story line**

**Choice 2: I write the stories into this one, making it take longer to follow the storyline.**

**Leave a review for this chapter as well! Thanks for reading, all rights belong to BBC.**


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